


Whatever It Takes

by Basmasadek



Series: Avenging Hunters [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Married Castiel/Dean Winchester, Married Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, Married Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Mutant Husbands, Superhusbands, Team as Family, Temporary Character Deaths, hunter husbands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-10-10 22:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 77,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20535299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basmasadek/pseuds/Basmasadek
Summary: Castiel’s eyes trailed towards the front of the time ship to watch from the thick glass the hundreds of colors that flowed around the ship from everywhere. The Time River that flowed with no end or beginning.The beginning.The first word that popped into his mind as he leaned against Dean’s body, pulling him close.The beginning that led them to this fate. Escaping in a time ship, to try and stop that beginning from ever happening.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Guys! I hope you didn't forget about me already! I'd like to say sorry in advance about this part. This is probably the most angsty thing I have ever written in my life, but it won't stop bugging me in my head so I had to write it to be done with it. I really hope you enjoy it!
> 
> I just need to point some things out first:
> 
> -English is not my first language, So if you find any mistakes feel free to point them out.
> 
> -Science in this story is completely out of my imagination. If it is related to a real thing, then it's just a happy coincidence. 
> 
> -This fic is inspired by an Egyptian book series.
> 
> -This fic was mostly written and planned way before Endgame. So, it is not meant to be related to the movie in any way since I still stubbornly denying it. However, I did use a quote or two from the movie since it fitted nicely with everything.
> 
> -Again, Charles didn't lose his hair. 
> 
> -This fic is heavy in the angst. like really heavy. Read that specific tag I added. But I need you to trust me on this. No matter how painful and dark it became, There will be a happy, fluffy ending waiting for you as a 'I am sorry I broke your hearts' gift
> 
> -This one can't be read as a stand alone, since it depends on many things that happened in the past parts. So, I suggest you read those first if you are interested. Hopefully, you won't be disappointed. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! please comment and tell me what you think.

The time ship shook violently again, managing to knock Dean and Castiel off their feet another time.

Castiel helped a shaking Dean back to his feet and rested him on one of the many empty seats inside the ship, then sat on another close one.

He wasn’t sure if it was normal for the time ship to shake this violently. It was its first time jump, so there was no way of knowing for sure. Tony wasn’t here to tell them if it was normal, because Tony was also gone. They were on their own. In every sense of the word. 

They both were still in shock. Dean’s shock was more apparent as his whole body was shaking, while his eyes were wide and unseeing. They couldn’t focus on Castiel anymore.

The angel didn’t blame him. It was good enough that Dean was holding on so far.

They had lost everything. Their family. Their friends. Their home. Their world. All gone.

They had lost. The Winchesters. The Avengers. Finally lost a war.

And that war cost them everything.

They were the last two survivors. Castiel’s worst nightmare came true right before his eyes. He watched as everything got brutally taken away from him, and he was losing Dean too now from how much the grief and loss were weighting on him.

He moved to pull Dean gently into his arms. He fell into Castiel’s arms willingly and they both moved to the floor so they could curl around each other desperately. They were all each other had left. Everything else was just gone.

It was a nightmare, but a one they could never wake up from.

Castiel’s eyes trailed towards the front of the time ship to watch from the thick glass the hundreds of colors that flowed around the ship from everywhere. The Time River that flowed with no end or beginning.

The beginning.

The first word that popped into his mind as he leaned against Dean’s body, pulling him close.

The beginning that led them to this fate. Escaping in a time ship, to try and stop that beginning from ever happening.

The irony was how close that beginning was. Only one week ago, everything was alright. Perfect even. Their family, their world, was still there. Alive and well.

Nothing in the horizon that even hinted of this fate.

Except for the Noise.

The Noise that started it all.

He threw a glance down at Dean, and felt his heart shattering all over again at the silent tears that were flowing down his husband’s face.

He still could hear the Noise in his head as his memories went back.

Back to the beginning. Of their end.

***

_One Week Earlier. _

Castiel didn’t know why he woke up with a raging headache on that day.

Technically, he wasn’t supposed to get headaches, but his body was apparently convinced it was human not an angel.

He opened his eyes and just stared at the ceiling, while Dean’s warm, naked body was pressed against his side as he slept peacefully.

It’s been two months since the day they met Charles Xavier and his polar opposite husband Erik Lehnsherr. Two months since they managed to escape the shadow world in one piece. Two months of Dean bringing up what he calls ‘The battle of the toaster’ to everyone over and over again, he even made T-shirts with it written on it, managing to make Tony two seconds away from going full Iron Man on him and blow him up.

It’s been peaceful those past months. Tony removed his cast after six weeks, during which Steve was even more protective than ever and rarely left Tony’s side, much to the genius’ irritation and delight. Sam and Natasha never left their bedroom as they celebrated their engagement over and over again. Bruce and Thor became very open now that everyone knew about their relationship, Castiel had walked on them way too many times so far it was getting annoying. Bucky and Sam Wilson became inseparable, they were constantly around each other, either arguing like an old married couple or going at it like rabbits. Raven and Charlie also gotten really close, now Charlie was spending a lot of time in the mansion, and sometimes Raven was the one who spent her time in the tower or the bunker with Charlie, they were an adorable couple. Clint was still as single as ever and seemed to be way comfortable about it now, he just spent his time annoying the other couples.

They also got very close with the mutant couple. They started spending a lot of time in the mansion with them and in return they come to the tower in their free time. They also went on many triple dates with them, much to Charles’ excitement and Erik’s chagrin. It was hilarious to watch Erik during those dates. Him dealing with both Dean and Tony at the same time and struggling not to kill them both to not anger Charles was fun to watch. Even though Erik now became a very close friend with Dean and Tony from how much similarities in their personalities, it was still dangerous to have the three of them in the same room. The amount of sass, sarcasm and bickering that occurs was enough to destroy countries. Charles was happy about that friendship though, glad that Erik’s world was finally expanding to take more people in that he actually like, and not just tolerates their existence.

Charles also became a very close friend to Castiel. During their visits, he usually spend his time with Castiel and Steve the most. He was a truly good man. Cheerful and optimistic even after everything he dealt with in his life, with a very kind heart. He was so much like Tony in many ways too. They had spent their entire childhood together, so that was predictable.

They eventually met Logan and Hank too. Logan clicked immediately with Dean. The burly mutant was tall and grumpy, but with a kind heart. It was fun watching him and Dean as they made Erik’s life miserable. Logan also got along well with him and Sam. Probably because of the fact that Logan was intimidated by him and he found that fun. Hank was smart and very nice, which of course, meant he was now ‘besties’ with Sam. They usually spend their time talking about nerdy things with happy, excited smiles. Dean found that amusing for some reason. Raven also became everyone’s little sister.

All in all, they were a very nice addition to their family. The family that gotten even bigger and Castiel still found all of that so surreal and amazing.

But also made him scared.

Scared of losing that. Losing this warmth and happiness. He had so much to lose now and that scared him to no end.

He didn’t know what he will do if all of this was taken away from him. Without Dean and his family by him, what’s the point of keep going?

When he failed to go back to sleep, he untangled himself carefully from Dean’s arms without waking the hunter, then got up quietly from the bed.

He put on his discarded sweatpants and shirt and padded out of the room to go the kitchen to make himself some coffee that might help with his headache.

It was still five in the morning. He wasn’t sure what had woke him up, but it was futile to go back to sleep with that headache.

Apparently, he wasn’t the only one awake at this strange hour.

He was surprised to find Tony awake at the kitchen table, hunched over a steaming cup of coffee and seeming to struggle to keep his eyes opened.

“You’re awake this early and Steve is not. Did you kill him and now you are trying to drink away your guilt?” Castiel announced his presence with a raised eyebrow as he made his way to the still hot coffee pot.

Tony looked up at him to roll his eyes. “You know? You have way too much sass for an angel.”

“I am living with people purely made out of sass and sarcasm. What do you expect?” Castiel smirked at him from over his shoulder.

“Don’t try to tell me we corrupted you while you are standing there wearing Dean’s shirt and pants.”

Castiel looked down at himself then. Huh. He didn’t even notice. He just shrugged and drank his first sip from his coffee.

“By the way, isn’t that Steve’s hoody you are wearing?” Castiel smirked from over the rim of his mug.

“Yeah, so? It is very comfortable and spacious.” Tony pouted into his mug. “Besides, he is sleeping so he doesn’t need it right now.”

Castiel looked Tony over before pausing at his chest area, when he noticed something glowing there.

“Tony?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you feel too uncomfortable without the hole in your chest so you decided to thrust the arc reactor right back in?”

Tony blinked at him in confusion for a few seconds. before looking down at his chest and understanding dawned on his face.

“Oh, no. No, that’s Mark 50. My new suit.” Tony smiled proudly as he looked back up at Castiel, he unzipped his hoody to reveal the brand new arc reactor attached to his chest. “It is made by nanotech. I made it into an arc reactor that will always be stuck on my chest. This way, the suit will always be with me. Anytime I need it, it will envelope me in the matter of seconds. Not everyone knew that you removed my reactor, so it won’t be anything unusual for anyone.”

“That’s genius.” Castiel murmured in awe as he stared at the triangle-ish looking reactor. It was amazing. Pure genius. This way, Tony will always be protected and ready to fight.

“Well, thank you.” Tony grinned at him proudly. “I wouldn’t be able to do it if you didn’t remove the reactor in the first place. So, kudos for you too.” 

“Well, I am not the one who build the suit, so you are the one that deserves all the praise. I only did what I should have done the day I met you.” He smiled, before something Tony said earlier caught his attention “Wait, Steve is still sleeping? That’s strange.” Castiel frowned at that as he pinched the bridge of his nose with a groan. His headache was getting worse in every passing second.

“Well, not exactly sleeping.” Tony sighed tiredly as he bit his lower lip a little in worry. “He woke up half an hour ago, claiming to have a killer headache. Even the slightest bit of light hurt him. His face was contorted in pain and nothing worked to ease it. He finally managed to drift off again a little with a pained face, so I came here to not disturb him.”

Castiel blinked, startled, as he glanced at Tony in confusion.

“Wait, what?” Castiel straightened a little, already starting to wake up, but the pain still there. “A pain that felt like it was coming from his ears up to his head and down his eyes?”

“Yeah, how did you know that?” Tony tilted his head at him with a frown.

“Because I have the same headache right now.”

Tony blinked and was about to say something, when a shirtless Thor came into the room and holding his head in his hands with a pained grimace.

“Thor?” Tony called out in concern as he watched the demigod. “You alright?”

“No, I have a mighty pain in my head that refuses to go away for the past half hour.” Thor answered with a pained groan as he made his way towards them.

Castiel tensed at that. Something isn’t right.

Tony furrowed his brows and shared a look with Castiel. “Okay, this couldn’t be a coincidence.”

“It is not a coincidence. Something is happening, or about to happen.”

“What are-“ Thor didn’t get to finish his sentence, because in the next second, The Noise happened.

The Noise that started everything. 


	2. Chapter 2

The moment The Noise sounded, Castiel’s head felt like it was exploding.

The Noise seemed like it was coming from everywhere. To everyone else, it sounded like there was a raging battle right outside the Tower, but to Castiel, it felt like that battle was inside his head.

He didn’t realize that he voiced his pain, until he saw a panicked Tony rushing to him.

“Cas! What’s happening? What’s that noise? Why are you in pain?” Tony showered him in panicked questions, but Castiel wasn’t able to answer any of them, since he was in too much pain, and also had no idea what’s going on.

But apparently, he wasn’t the only one in pain.

Thor collapsed to his knees, while grapping his head tightly and was groaning in pain. Tony was about to rush towards Thor, when suddenly Dean and Steve stumbled into the room. Dean was supporting Steve, who was holding his head, eyes closed tightly against the pain raking through his head.

“Tony.” Steve uttered painfully as he opened his eyes with too much effort to search for Tony.

“Steve?” Tony called out frantically as he ran towards his husband, who collapsed to his knees. Castiel followed him, unable to stay on his feet any longer. He looked up when he felt Dean’s hands on him, calling his name frantically and asking him what was happening.

But Castiel didn’t know. He absolutely had no idea what was happening, but it made his heart clench in fear.

This was the beginning of something terrible. He was sure of it.

“JARVIS! Where is this noise coming from?” Tony shouted at the AI as he tried to hold on to the writhing Supersoldier desperately.

“I am not quite sure, Sir. The noise seemed like it was coming from everywhere.” JARVIS answered sounding unsettled.

Castiel wasn’t sure what’s happening around him anymore, he was aware of Dean’s arms surrounding him. Aware of the others as they all woke up and rushed in the room to see what was happening. He could see Bruce holding on to Thor frantically, as the latter’s pained groans got louder.

Then suddenly, The Noise was gone. Stopped suddenly like it never happened, and the three of them collapsed against the floor breathing heavily as the pain subsided.

Everyone stood frozen, trying to understand what just happened.

“Cas? Are you with me?” Dean asked in concern as he cradled Castiel’s face gently in his hands and looked him over in worry.

Castiel nodded and gave him a small smile to reassure him, not trusting his voice yet. Dean’s shoulders relaxed a little and bent down to kiss his forehead reassuringly.

“Steve?” he heard Tony calling anxiously, Castiel and Dean turned to check on their friend, to see Tony resting Steve’s head in his lap and was looking down at him frantically.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” Steve croaked out and opened his eyes to smile up at Tony comfortingly. “I’m fine, Sweetheart.”

Tony sagged in relief as he looked around at the others. Thor was being helped back to his feet by Bruce and Bucky, who looked, like everyone else, confused and alarmed.

“What the hell was that?” Clint exclaimed as he looked around anxiously. “It sounded like the end of the world was right by our window. I could hear that fucking noise even before I put on my hearing aids!”

“And why did it affect the three of you this badly?” Sam asked in confusion as he bent down to help Tony in pulling Steve up, while Natasha helped Dean with Castiel.

“I don’t know, but it felt like it was about to explode my head.” Steve grimaced in pain, as he was being pulled to his feet.

“Then what-“

“Excuse me, sir, but Professor Xavier is calling.” JARVIS interrupted suddenly.

“Put him through.” Tony said as he sated Steve down on a chair and trailed his fingers through his husband’s hair a little shakily, Dean and Natasha too helped Castiel to sit on another chair on the kitchen table. Dean sat next to Cas and watched him in concern, while Natasha rubbed his shoulders comfortingly.

A holoscreen appeared in the middle of the room, showing an anxious Charles and worried Erik.

“Tony, did you hear that Noise?” Charles exclaimed the moment he laid eyes on the genius.

“Wait, you heard it too?” Tony frowned in confusion at him.

“Everyone around the world heard it. I could hear the frantic thoughts in my head at a wide radius. It affected half of my children badly. They just started screaming in pain all of a sudden.”

“What was it?” Erik asked in worry as he leaned forward to look at everyone. 

“A little too high pulse.” Natasha answered a little hesitant. “Or I think it is. I can’t find any other explanation.”

“No, no, that actually might be true.” Tony frowned as he thought about it.

“Where did it come from?” Dean asked anxiously.

“I am not sure.”

“Did it come from Earth?”

Everyone froze as they stared at Dean with wide eyes. The implication brought a cold shiver through them.

“You think it might have came from space?” Steve questioned carefully.

“I don’t know. Could be. What could possibly be on Earth that could emit a pulse like that, that was heard by everyone?”

His question made all of them look at each other in worry.

“You are implying that aliens are doing this?” Erik frowned at Dean, but they could tell how tensed he became.

Before Dean could answer, Steve’s phone rang from his and Tony’s room, before he made a move to get it, Tony beat him to it and went to bring him his phone. Tony came back, frowning at the phone as he handed it to Steve.

“This can’t be good.” Tony muttered unhappily.

Steve looked down at it and frowned too.

“Well, here’s Nick Fury calling, so I guess we are about to find out what’s happening.” Steve murmured as he answered his phone.

After he listened for a few minutes, he finished the call quietly then looked up them.

“Well?” Bucky asked impatiently.

“Fury wants to see me and Cas.” Steve announced as he trailed his eyes towards Castiel.

“Me? Why?” Castiel asked in confusion.

“Yeah, why?” Dean demanded defensively. “Fury isn’t exactly a fan of Cas, why does he wants to see him now?”

“I don’t know, Dean. He didn’t say, but you have nothing to worry about. I will be there. No one will dare to do anything, but we need to understand what is happening.”

Dean shared a look with Castiel, who nodded comfortingly at him, then sighed in defeat.

“Fine. But I will go too and wait outside.” Dean said, crossing his arms against his chest stubbornly.

“Yeah, me too.” Tony insisted too as he raised an eyebrow at Steve.

“Fine, Mother Bears. Let’s just get ready and go.”

***

“So, obviously, you heard the Noise that woke up the entire world.”

Nick Fury started as he trailed his eyes between Steve and Castiel, carefully. Making sure he got their full attention. Maria Hill was standing a few feet away from them silently.

“Yeah, it actually affected the both of us and Thor more violently than everyone else.” Steve frowned as he answered.

“Affected you how?” Maria asked as she looked at them curiously.

“Raging headache thirty minutes before the Noise. Pain exploding in our heads the moment we heard it.” Castiel answered shortly.

Fury and Hill shared a quick look, before turning back to them.

“We detected the pulse thirty minutes before it reached hearing range. It increased gradually in those thirty minutes, until it became what you heard, which continued for exactly one minute before stopping abruptly. Like it never happened.” Fury reported to them as he looked between them carefully.

“Wait, so we felt it way before it became hearable? Why?” Steve furrowed his brows in confusion.

“We have enhanced hearing, Steve.” Castiel was the one to answer him then as understanding fell on him. “We can hear things normal humans can’t. That pulse was strong enough for us to be affected by it, when it became hearable it hurt our enhanced hearing, which caused that pain.”

“That’s-That’s makes sense. Now I feel stupid.” Steve blinked at him for a second before turning back to Fury. “Do you have any idea where did that pulse came from?”

“Only theories and assumptions.”

“Like what?”

Hill and Fury shared another look before the former answered.

“An attempted space breach.”

“An attempted what?” Steve and Castiel asked together in confused surprise, head tilting to the side. It brought a small smile on both agents’ faces helplessly, from how adorable it was. Funny, how two very powerful, very intimidating men could look this adorable in the matter of two seconds. 

“Space breach, gentlemen.” Fury answered this time. “Something is trying to breach the space barrier and pass through a specific cosmic path that shortens the time and space.” He leaned forward with a furrowed brow as he said the next part. “A path we call here The Stars Passage.”

Steve and Castiel blinked back at him blankly, and Fury was taken aback, like he was expecting a major reaction from them or something. 

“Okay. I think we need a little more detailed explanation.” Steve raised an eyebrow at Fury, while Castiel pursed his lips in annoyance. “I am not Tony and he is not Bruce. You might have forgotten that along the way. If you were planning to talk science, then you should have sent for them instead.”

“Why did you ask for us anyway? Tony would have been the best option here, instead of me. He and Steve are the Avengers’ leaders anyway.” Castiel questioned curiously.

“The team trusts the both of you the most. They will follow your lead no matter what. Stark is skeptical and, frankly, hard to deal with. The eldest Winchester is no different. The both of you will be able to deal with your husbands and team better than anyone.” Fury explained tiredly. The two blue eyed soldiers couldn’t argue with his reason. “Anyway, I will explain to you everything.”

He pressed a button on his desk, so a hologram appeared in the middle of the room of the Solar System, the planets and their moons as they swam around the sun.

“You know that what stopped us from travelling through space was dealing with the large distances in reaching the far planets in our Solar System or reaching any other systems or even galaxies. Eventually, we managed to deal with it in some way. By building very advanced space shuttles just in case of any emergencies, that took us years to make. It now can reach Neptune or even Pluto but not any other systems.”

The hologram seemed to be retreating to show the entire Solar System then the space around it, filled with other systems, until it showed the entire Milky Way.

“Then happened our last exploring mission. We sent a small team in one of the space shuttles to Neptune. After the agents finished their mission and started their way back to Earth, everything was going fine, until the transmitting device got malfunctioned somehow and released very high frequencies.”

“Let me guess, that high frequency opened a new path through space?” Castiel guessed as he started to understand what Fury was saying.

“Exactly. That frequency made a cosmic opening, the shuttle breached it before the agents were able to get away. Fortunately for them.”

The hologram fast forwarded again towards the solar system and zoomed in on Mars.

Hill pointed at the hologram as she continued Fury’s line of thought. “Suddenly, like in the movies, the agents found themselves a few thousand kilometers away from Mars, which means they crossed the distance between Neptune and Mars in one second without losing an ounce of fuel.”

“Wow. That’s-wow.” Steve blinked in awe at that. “That is one hell of a discovery.”

“Yeah, and also a very dangerous military secret. After we checked the shuttle’s data and found out the strength of the frequency, we managed to repeat the experience successfully, and applied many laws about it that helped us in going through the Stars Passage Project.”

“So, the Stars Passage will allow us to jump from one place to another through the universe without the usual time limits?”

“That’s right, Captain.” Fury was the one to answer. “Try to imagine what we could do with this. How much we could benefit from it, with travelling millions of light years in one second.”

Steve and Castiel shared a meaningful look, before facing him again.

“We are not the only ones who knows about it, are we?” Castiel stated with a raised eyebrow.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Fury sighed in exhaustion. “What happened today, meant that another force was trying to go through the Stars Passage to reach us.”

“What kind of ‘Force’?” Steve asked carefully even though he felt like he already knew the answer.

A cold shiver ran through both their bodies even before they heard the answer.

“An invasion, Gentlemen. An alien invasion is trying to reach us.” 


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone stared at Castiel and Steve with wide eyes.

Steve trailed his eyes on their faces before continuing.

“If what Fury says is true, this means we are dealing with something far more serious than we thought.”

“No aliens dared to come near Earth since the Chitauri and the Glorians, but we will manage to deal with this too, right?” Bruce asked carefully as Thor wrapped an arm around his shoulder reassuringly.

“Until this moment, it is only an assumption.” Castiel said in attempt to reassure them.

“Yeah, but it is a pretty strong assumption.” Tony announced grimly. “I looked over everything again, and from this new information, it does seem like a space breach.”

“But how? Isn’t the Stars Passage a military secret until now-“

“A secret to who exactly?” Sam interrupted Clint, making everyone look over at him in question. “Well, science is science, anywhere and anytime. The laws of the universe applies to everyone supposedly, which means we might not be the first ones who discovered the Stars Passage. Hell, we might be the last in a long list of civilizations that already discovered it centuries ago from how advanced they are. That explained how they managed to reach us. Saying that the Stars Passage didn’t exist before we discovered is like asking what did we breathe before we discovered Oxygen.”

“So what you are trying to say is that whoever is trying to breach our space are way more advanced than us?” Natasha asked carefully.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Thanks, dude. How comforting.” Dean rolled his eyes in frustration.

“It is reality, Dean. We have to accept it, even if you don’t like it.”

“Well, I guess facing reality is what will give us hope at facing this.” Steve said in determination.

“Steve, we don’t even know what we are dealing with or how strong they are.” Tony supplied looking even more anxious in every passing second.

“But at least we know the location of the Breach.” Steve then leaned forward to point at something in the large screen map on one of the walls. “Here.”

“California?” Dean asked in surprise. “But we heard that Noise loud and clear, and we are in New York!”

“The space breach happens in a long right angle. What we heard and felt is only a reaction from the Breach.” Tony explained as he frowned in concentration. “That means that the invasion will start from there?”

“That’s we got so far.” Steve shrugged as he looked back at them.

“What are they planning to do with this information?”

“Well, Fury said that the army is taking charge. They sent forces there to be at the ready and-“

“What is our part in all of this?” Dean cut him off as he raised an eyebrow at him expectantly.

Steve shared a nervous look with Castiel before the latter sighed and answered shortly. “They need a scouting team.”

“A scouting what?” Tony and Dean exclaimed indignantly, while the others tensed.

“A scouting team, guys.” Steve repeated firmly. “The only way to get information about the coming attack, their strength and who they are. A team that will cross the Stars Passage in reverse to gather information from the enemy before they strike.”

“But we never went to space before.” Natasha said carefully.

“There is a first time for everything, I guess.”

Silence fell on the room as everyone shared nervous looks.

“So, a suicide mission.” Bucky supplied with pursed lips.

“Yeah. A suicide mission.” Steve confirmed with a sigh. “They thought about sending a robot or something but machines could be fooled. We are the best chance to get this mission right. Even if the chances of coming back is pretty low, but everyone on Earth is depending on us to succeed.”

“Why the Earth is always depending on us?” Clint muttered in frustration.

“Because we are the Avengers.” Natasha answered quietly as she leaned against Sam’s side. “We have no other choice.”

“Well, since this is a suicide mission, we need to split into two teams. One team will stay here to fight if something happened, another team of six or less will be on the mission. You have the choice to be on any team. I can do this mission alone if you-“

“You shut up, I am coming, asshole.” Tony cut him off with a glare.

“Tony, no, you-“

“Don’t you dare to say anything. If you are going I am going. You will not talk me out of this. Besides, you will need me in this.”

Castiel and Dean shared a long look. The angel could see that Dean didn’t want to just sit here and let their friends go like that. Castiel himself will not feel comfortable with this. They nodded at each other after coming to a decision without needing any words, then turned their eyes back to Steve.

“We are coming.” Dean announced firmly as he wrapped an arm around Castiel’s shoulder.

Steve gave them a long look, before nodding at them in gratitude with a small smile.

“I’m coming.” Everyone else pretty much shouted together, they glared at each other before they all start arguing about who should be the last two.

“I am going!”

“No, they need brains and brawns! So, obviously, me.”

“Maybe you should be the one to go so you could be the first to die!”

“You will get all of them killed! I should be the one to go.”

“Why does it have to be only six? You will need all the power you can get.” Bucky objected loudly.

“The shuttle will only carry six people, Buck.” Steve explained calmly.

“Then I am coming.”

“No. If the four of us are going, then you are needed here more than there. We need to be stealthier there, more than powerful.”

“Then I am coming.” Natasha shut them all up with a glare when they were about protest. “We have done dozens of missions together before. I am coming with you and that’s final.”

“If you are going, I am going.” Sam announced as he stood up to face Natasha’s glare head on, without flinching.

“No, you are not.” Dean and Natasha objected at the same time indignantly, while looking at him like he was crazy.

“Sorry to disappoint the both of you, but I am coming. I am not exactly needed here, all the others are needed here more than there, so it is only logical that I go.”

His words made sense that Steve couldn’t find a way to argue with him.

“Sam, you never went to space before!” Natasha pretty much yelled at his face.

“Neither did you!”

“I have dealt with aliens before.”

“I did too, remember?”

“Sam-“

“Nat, you are not going without me. If you and Dean are going, then I am going.”

Dean and Natasha glared him down, but he stood his ground as he met their glares head on. The tension was building and everyone was silent, waiting for one of them to snap.

Eventually Dean let out a frustrated breath and looked away angrily, Natasha’s shoulders fell in defeat, while Sam smiled in triumph.

“Wow, he faced Natasha’s glare and survived.” Tony murmured in surprise. “She is so whipped.”

Natasha turned to glare at him, but he just grinned back at her and wiggled his eyebrows smugly.

“Alright. If that is settled.” Steve smiled a little at everyone in amusement. “SHIELD are preparing our small shuttle as we speak. Fury told me everything I will need to be able to fly it just fine. I flew war aircrafts before so it was easy enough. Dean, since I kinda expected that you will want to come, I will teach how to fly it so in case something happens, you will be the copilot.”

“Wow, really?” Dean’s eyes widened as he looked back at him. “I will fly a space shuttle, this is just getting crazier in every passing second.”

Steve just smiled at him before continuing. “I already called Erik and Charles. They are on their way here with Logan, Hank and Raven to hold the fort with you guys.”

“When are we starting our mission?” Natasha asked curiously.

“In a few-“

He didn’t finish his sentence, since in the next second, him, Castiel and Thor dropped to their knees while holding their heads in pain again.

Because the Noise sounded again. This time was much closer. And stronger.

***

Everything was calm in Washington DC.

Life was going like it always did.

People hurrying to their jobs.

Cars driving down the street.

Passersby walking calmly on the sidewalk.

Then suddenly, The Noise started.

It started out of nowhere, like there was a raging battle behind the clouds.

Panicked, terrified eyes looked up towards the sky.

At the same moment, a crack appeared in the sky.

A huge black crack in the middle of the sky opened, from it appeared two strange looking battleships, which attacked everything that walked the Earth viciously.

The cars.

The motorcycles.

The animals.

Even the humans.

A vicious attack that rained down laser beams and started reaping lives mercilessly.

A wave of terror and panic raged through everyone as they started to run away and screaming like they were in hell.

But the laser fell harshly, destroying cars and eliminated innocent people.

In a matter of few seconds.

Everything ended before any of Earth’s defenses started to attack the two ships.

In almost thirty seconds, they finished their bloody mission and retreated back to the crack in the sky, which sealed again like it was never there.

And the Noise stopped.

Silence was the only thing left behind.


	4. Chapter 4

“Washington, Cairo, Marseille, Napoli, Manchester, Beijing, Leningrad, Sydney, Beirut, Buenos Aires, Brazil, Los Angeles. All of them took the same hit at the same moment.”

Fury reported as he faced the team in the tower. “In each location, the attack only took thirty seconds, before all the battleships retreated suddenly with no specific reason.”

The whole team were silent and in a state of shock. The world took a hard hit, and they weren’t fast enough to reach any place of attack before it was over.

That hit affected them the most. They were supposed to protect the people. Then they were as startled by the attack as everyone else.

“We should have done something.” Steve muttered as he clinched his fists tightly. “We weren’t fast enough.”

“The attack only lasted thirty seconds, Steve.” Natasha murmured quietly. “There was no way we could have reached any of those cities in time. They just retreated suddenly without any reason like the Director said.”

“I think I may understand their reasons.” Castiel stated as he looked up at Fury.

“What do you have in mind?”

“I think the main target behind those attacks is to give us a slap to our Morales. Vanquish our fighting spirit.”

“Do you have any idea how much that slap cost us? More than half a million victims and twice that number of wounded people around the world, and without hitting even a single one of those ships. Do you have any idea about the panic and terror ricking around the world at this very moment?”

“I understand what happened, which makes what I am saying logical. You said it yourself, we lost half a million and twice that number of wounded, without hitting a single battleship. If we reviewed what we know, you will understand what I am saying.” He stood up and started to walk around the room and seemed like he was talking mainly to himself loudly. “Obviously, those aliens didn’t complete their study about us. That attack only aimed to panic us, and because they still don’t know the result of a direct attack with our forces, they focused their attack on a hit and retreat strategy, to leave a perfect result behind. A huge amount of victims and wounded, around the world, without any loss from their part.”

“That is a very logical explanation.” Charles praised, looking impressed by Castiel’s logic. He and Erik arrived earlier with Logan, Hank and Raven. They all were here to help the team that will stay on Earth, they need all the help they could get.

“If that’s true, then they will not stop at that.” Steve said with a frown.

“What do you expect?” Tony asked carefully.

“Another attack with a limited number of battleships, in three or four location at most. This time will take a little longer, until they engage with our forces.”

“A strength test, then.” Fury muttered with a furrowed brow.

“Exactly.”

“They are doing exactly what we would have done to gather information about the enemy.” He faced the whole team then before adding “We need to beat them to it.”

“We are ready to do the mission at any time.” Steve said firmly, the others nodded a long with him.

“Good. That’s good. The shuttle preparation was delayed a little because of the attack, but it should be ready to go in four hours or so.” He sighed and his shoulders dropped a little in defeat. “I know it is a suicide mission, gentlemen, but you need to do the best you can to come back with the info that you will manage to get. We thought earlier, that we can locate the Preach, then that attack happened with several preaches at the same time and we realized how little we know about the Stars Passage. We can’t pull our forces from California and we can’t rearrange them around the country at the same time, which means we became helpless to defend ourselves. Not to mention the wave of terror and panic that fell upon the Earth.” He looked up to stare Steve in the eyes. “So we desperately in need for these info. Our survival depends on your return.”

“Relax, eye patch. We will get you what you want. Whatever it takes.” Dean said confidentially.

“Even if it costs us our lives.” Steve added in determination. 

His words fell on all of them hard, from how true it was. They will do whatever it takes to get those info. They know it might cost them their lives.

But they will carry on with it anyway. Because that’s just what they are. 

***

Tony was walking around their room trying to gather Steve’s suit for him, since the man was doing nothing except setting on foot of their bed and looking down at his clinched fists.

He knows that Steve will burst out any second now and yell, because Tony decided to come with him on the mission, but there was no way in hell he was letting Steve go without him even if they were fighting with each other all the time up there. Because that will beat waiting around down here, wondering if he will ever see his husband again, probably for the rest of his life. He can’t do that. He won’t do that.

He prefer to die with him rather than living on without him. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw his Black Sabbath shirt among Steve’s suit. He thought he lost that shirt years ago.

“Hey, what is this doing among your stuff?” he asked as he raised the shirt up for Steve to see it. “Your shirts aren’t tight enough for you so you wear mine now?”

Steve looked up for a second, gaze landing on the shirt, then back towards his fists.

“I wear it under my suit for years now.” Steve murmured quietly, not really meeting Tony’s eyes.

“Why?” Tony was genuinely confused and curious as he trailed his eyes over Steve’s hunched form.

“For good luck.” The soldier answered quietly. “I feel safer and more confident when I wear it. A part of you that is always with me.”

“But your suit was ripped apart before by the Glorians.”

“Castiel wielded it back again for me when I asked him.”

“Why? I have many other shirts. You can choose whatever you like from them.”

“This was the shirt you wore when we first met.” Steve shifted a little uncomfortably then, as he avoided Tony’s eyes at all costs. “It is too important to me. That day was important to me.”

The answer took Tony off guard as he stared at his husband dumbfounded, while feeling his heart growing ten times bigger. That was such a Steve thing to say and do, it made him ache. His husband was probably the only human alive that could render him speechless and at a loss for words.

He can never live without that man. He just couldn’t.

“I don’t want you to come.” Steve said suddenly after a long moment of silence.

Tony was about to yell at him his protests, but then Steve looked up to meet his eyes, and the words got stuck in his throat.

Steve wasn’t angry or frustrated. He wasn’t glaring at him or frowning. Instead, He was giving Tony an utterly broken look, tears slowly falling down his cheeks.

There goes Tony’s heart.

He placed the shirt back on the suit and made his way towards his husband. He stepped between Steve’s open legs and the soldier immediately wrapped his arms around his waist to pull him closer, so he could bury his face in Tony’s chest.

“I don’t want to lose you.” Steve murmured into his chest, his arms tightening around him. “I can’t, Tony. I just can’t. I-I need you.”

He raked his fingers through Steve’s hair as he looked down at him with a small smile. Growing up, he never thought someone will ever love him enough, that losing him would be tragic to them. Now, looking down at this beautiful, amazing man, breaking down from just the thought of losing him, keeping one of his shirts to wear it as a good luck charm just to feel safe. He couldn’t help but wish for his younger self to see him now. To see how lucky they were. 

“Steve, honey, you know that I can’t stay behind.” Tony murmured gently as he massaged Steve’s head gently to calm him a little. “I won’t let you go without knowing if you will ever come back to me. I won’t be able to handle that, Steve. You know that.” he pulled Steve’s face away a little from his chest, so he could meet his eyes. “You won’t want to do that to me, will you?”

Steve shook his head as his shoulders dropped in misery. “I don’t even know if we will come back from that mission, Tony.”

“If we survived, we survive together, and if we died, we will do that together too. There is no other scenario. I won’t go on without you, Steve. I will not. You know that too.”

Steve blinked up at him for a few seconds, before he totally abused his strength by tightening his arms around Tony, then moved to throw him on the bed without breaking a sweat, which was very hot by the way.

Tony found himself on his back with Steve leaning on his elbow and looking down at him, one arm wrapped possessively around his waist.

“Woah, sweetheart, what-“ Tony was cut off by Steve’s lips on his. That will always be the best way to shut him up, he thought as he completely melted on the bed.

“I don’t want to think anymore. I don’t want to talk. I just want you.” Steve murmured, pressing his lips against Tony’s at each word, making Tony’s toes curl in delight. Steve’s lips moved down his jaw, then towards his neck, where he made it his mission to nip and mark every inch of it.

Tony wrapped his arms around Steve’s shoulders to bring him closer, and moaned softly in his ear as Steve started to undress him without stopping his ministrations, then whispered gently. “You have me, Steve. You will always have me.”

***

“So, our last night on Earth, literally, and you are favoring the company of a window instead of me?”

Castiel heard Dean’s teasing voice behind him, and he couldn’t help but smile as he looked away from the large floor to ceiling windows to meet Dean’s eyes.

“Admittedly, the window doesn’t tease me on every possible chance it got.” Castiel retorted back as he turned fully to face Dean.

“Oh, so you like the window more than me now? Sure hope you will be happy together. Not sure how you will put a ring on it, though.” Dean smirked as he made his way towards Castiel, until he was standing right in front of him. The angel already felt warmth seeping through him just by the hunter’s closeness. They unconsciously stepped closer towards each other like magnets. They could never manage to put much distance between them. It was physically painful to do that, so they just stopped trying years ago.

“I am not walking around putting rings on everything I like, Dean.” Castiel rolled his eyes fondly, then reached out to take Dean’s left hand in his to trace the ring there with his finger. “Besides, you already put a ring on me, what else could I possibly want?”

“You still preferred the window, though. That hurts.”

“You know what? The window was a much nicer company than you so far.”

“Oh yeah? Could the window do this?” Dean smirked before he gently cupped Castiel’s face with his free hand and leaned forward to press his lips against the angel in a long deep kiss that took them a while before they parted for breath.

“Still prefers the window.” Castiel murmured against his husband’s sweet, soft lips. “I might need a little more convincing than that.”

Dean raised an eyebrow at him for a second, before suddenly he wrapped his arms tightly around Castiel and crashed their lips together in a hard, deep, heated kiss.

Castiel moaned into the kiss as he wrapped around Dean just as tightly. The kiss got even more heated, that the next thing he knew, he was flat on his back on the floor without a shirt and with an open pants, while Dean on top of him completely naked and kissing down his neck and chest.

Seconds fell into minutes of kissing, touching, marking everywhere they could reach of each other. Needing to feel, to touch. It might be the last time they will be able to do that, after all.

Castiel watched Dean as he rode him with everything he got, making the angel completely at his mercy, unable to do anything besides watching dazedly and thrusting up to meet Dean’s powerful movements.

He watched as Dean’s eyes closed and his head thrown back in pleasure, as he moaned and groaned Castiel’s name like soft prayer. Felt the heat radiating from his body, consuming him and burning him from the inside out. Felt him around him, as he took him in over and over again enthusiastically and loudly. 

He was beautiful. He will always be beautiful. Fifty years from now, even when they will be both old and wrinkly, Dean will always be beautiful.

Castiel paused at that thought, but before he could ponder it for long, he felt heat exploding from inside him and he moaned Dean’s name as he came. Dean following close behind him, then collapsed on top of Castiel, exhausted.

They were silent for a while as they caught their breaths, then Dean raised his head to smirk down at him.

“Still prefers the window?” he teased with a boyish smirk on his face, Castiel was lost for a second as he admired the beautiful smile, before remembering that he didn’t answer.

“What window?” Castiel murmured dazedly earning a laugh from Dean, as he shifted so he was laying on his side, head resting on the angel’s chest and wrapped an arm around his waist, to bring him closer protectively.

Castiel just smiled and wrapped his own arm around Dean’s shoulders, and pressed his lips against his forehead gently.

They fell into a peaceful silence, just taking each other in. enjoying the quiet moment before it was taken away forcibly from them.

“Do you ever regret it?” Dean murmured quietly without looking up at him, just trailed circles absentmindedly on Castiel’s chest. “Falling. Rebelling. You could have been up there now, ignoring all these trouble that we have to deal with here. Not having to deal with anything. Deal with me.”

Castiel blinked at the absurdity of what Dean was saying, that he had to take a moment to actually comprehend what his stupid husband just said.

“After all of these years, you ask me that now? You still think that I’d ever regret this? Regret you?” Castiel looked down at him indignantly, not able to understand what brought this on.

“It’s just-In a few hours, we will be heading to a completely unknown territory for us. Something we never dealt with before, in a completely unknown place. We will be literally out of our element, not knowing if we even will come back, but volunteered willingly because they are our friends and we can’t just leave them to deal with such a mission on their own. Honestly, I will not even blame you, if you regret the day you met me by now. You don’t even have to deal with any of this.” Dean rambled on nervously with no intention to stop. He must have spent way too much time with Tony, they are starting to rub off on each other.

“I want to grow old with you.” Castiel cut him off. Dean snapped his mouth shut and his head shot up to look down at him with wide eyes. Huh, that actually worked.

“What?” Dean breathed out in awe as he blinked down at him.

“I want to grow old with you.” He repeated with a small, warm smile as he gently cupped Dean’s face in his hand. “I want to let my body age. I want to spend my entire existence with you. I want to have sassy, hot headed children with you, and watch them marry Steve and Tony’s own sassy, hot headed children and in return will give birth to even sassier, hot headed grandchildren.” He trailed his thumb along Dean’s cheek, both of them unable to look away from each other.

“I want to watch you embarrass Sam on his wedding day. I want to see you and Natasha teaming up to piss your brother off. I want to watch you bicker with Erik and Tony forever while Steve, Charles and I roll our eyes fondly every two seconds. I want to watch you pretend to gag at Thor and Bruce’s relationship on every waking moment. I want to see Bucky chasing you around for teasing the hell out of him for his relationship with Sam Wilson. I want to watch as the whole team made fun of Clint’s constant single life. I want to see you treating Charlie and Raven like little sisters to you. I want to watch you call Sam a nerd when he talked to Hank. I want to see Erik boiling in restraint anger when you, Tony and Logan team up against him. In short, I want a lifetime with you. I want everything with you. So, no, Dean, I never regretted this. I never regretted you. I never will.”

Tears were slowly falling down Dean’s face as he watched him with a huge smile, awe and adoration filling his gaze as he trailed his eyes over Castiel’s face.

“You are probably the biggest sap on planet Earth.” Dean chuckled wetly, as he leaned forward to rest his forehead against Castiel’s.

“In a few hours, I will be a sap in space too.” Castiel murmured with a smile, earning a beautiful laugh from Dean.

“Yeah, you will be.” Dean murmured then pressed his lips against the angel fervently. “I want all of that too. Every single one of them. All of it. With you. Forever.”

“Now you are the sappy one.”

Dean laughed again as he pressed his lips happily again against Castiel’s. Both felt lighter than ever.

They will have all of that. They deserved to have it.


	5. Chapter 5

“Tony, why are you dragging us to your workshop?”

Dean asked for probably the hundredth time now since the genius literally pulled the three Winchesters out of their rooms an hour before they had to go to SHIELD headquarters. Tony ignored all of Dean’s questions as he led the way towards the workshop, while they trailed behind him in confusion, Steve and Natasha followed them in amusement.

“You will find out soon enough.” Tony answered this time, throwing a smirk over his shoulder at them as he walked towards an empty wall in the workshop.

“Wow, a wall.” Dean said dryly, while Castiel raised an eyebrow at Tony, Sam just blinked in confusion.

“Since when do I have empty walls in my workshop, dude?” Tony smirked at them in amusement.

“I don’t know. I don’t walk around staring at your walls.” Dean sighed in defeat. “Just say why are we here, man.”

Tony turned towards the wall, then placed his palm against a certain part of it while he talked. “I have been working on these for a few months now. Probably since the moment we came back from the forties. I thought that since you guys are officially Avengers, then you need these. And no better timing than this to give them to you.”

“What are you-“ Dean’s words were cut off by the wall suddenly turning on itself, revealing three mannequins that were wearing three suits. One was black and green, another was black and blue and the last one was black and yellow. They were like a mix of Captain America’s suit and Black Widow’s, they looked strong with several places for weapons and light enough for easy movements. On their chests was the anti-possession symbol with wings sprouting out of it. A symbol for the three of them. The same symbol was on the belts of each suit.

The three of them blinked in shock as they stared and stared, not able to do anything else.

“Are they breathing? Maybe we should check if they were?” Natasha said in amusement, as she smirked at them.

“I don’t think they are. Try to hit them with something. Or throw anything close to you.” Steve retorted back with a grin.

Their voices snapped them out of their shock, and they blinked back at Tony.

“You made us superhero suits?” Sam asked in a shocked voice.

“Well, yeah. You need it in the times you are with us and not on a hunt or something. You can’t fight super villains, while wearing flannels, that just horrible for our image.” Tony mocked grimaced as he watched them in amusement.

“Dude, you stole one of my shirts before.” Dean raised an eyebrow at him, but he was smiling widely.

“To be honest, I don’t really pay attention to whose shirt I am wearing. I could be wearing one of Nat’s stuff and I won’t even notice.”

“I’d love to see you in one of Nat’s stuff.” Steve grinned suggestively at him, as he raked his eyes over his body, while biting his lower lip.

“Touch my stuff and you are dead.” Natasha stated dryly.

“Anyway,” Tony rolled his eyes with a chuckle. “The green one is Buster Brown’s. The blue one is Feather’s, and obviously the yellow one is for Sasquatch. Each suit can carry any amount of weapons you need, I added the Assassin’s Creed wrist cuffs to each suit that held two angel blades by the way, the rest of what the suits could do would be easier to show when you wear them.” Tony stated as he pressed a few buttons on a screen on the wall to release the suits.

“You didn’t have to do this, you know.” Castiel said with a grateful smile to Tony, as Dean and Sam stepped forward to check the suits with wide boyish grins on their faces.

“I know.” Tony smiled up at Castiel, just as Dean came over and pulled Tony into a one armed, but tight, hug.

“Thanks, dude. That’s just awesome.” Dean grinned down at him happily.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Move your asses and wear them, we have a space shuttle to catch.”  


***

They gathered in the living room to say goodbye to the rest of the team before they leave.

It was hard. The grounded team were all trying to hide their tears, since they genuinely doesn’t know if the others will manage to come back. The hugs were tight, the laughter was wet and they were all, probably for the first time, afraid they might never be together in this room whole again, and that showed in every hug and every murmured goodbye. Hell, even Erik managed to hug them for a full two seconds, which surprised everyone, even Charles.

“Well, if mom and dad are going with our older siblings, who is going to be in charge here?” Clint asked suddenly, making everyone blink back at him. “You know, Steve and Tony are our Mom, the leaders. Cas and Dean are Dad, who lead if Mom is not home. Nat and Sam are the Older Siblings, who take charge when Mom and Dad are not here, so what now?”

“Wait, we are?” Sam blinked in surprise and looked back at Natasha. “How did I not know that?”

“I was about to tell you, but you proposed and made me forget.” Natasha shrugged up at him with a small smile.

“How are we still the Mom? I don’t get it.” Tony groaned in frustration.

“Can you see us as the Mom?” Dean raised an eyebrow at him as he gestured towards himself and Castiel, who was just watching in amusement.

They all blinked back at him as they thought about it, then all shook their heads silently.

“Exactly what I thought.”

“Well, I think Charles and Erik could do it.” Steve shrugged as he answered Clint’s question. “They could be your Godfather or Cool Uncle or something.”

“Wait, what?” Erik looked at him in surprise.

“Oh, no, I don’t think so.” Charles shook his head with a disbelieving chuckle.

“It is logical if you think about it. You already lead the X-Men, everyone here respects you and will follow your lead. Also no one really dares to not listen to Erik, except for Dean and Tony, and they are both will not be here, so you will have no problem. So, I think it is very logical to for you two to lead, while we are gone.” Steve explained calmly with a small smile.

“I don’t know about that.” Erik frowned as he looked down at Charles. “We are just here to help.”

“Come on, anyone here objects with that suggestion?” Tony asked as he looked at the others.

“Well, honestly, I think they are the only ones here, who can take charge of this.” Bruce nodded in acceptance to the idea.

“Yeah, you guys are better choice than following Thor, or God forbid, Clint.” Bucky grimaced at the thought, earning two indignant shouts from Thor and Clint.

“I am already following them.” Logan just shrugged calmly. Hank agreeing with him quietly.

“I like the Cool Uncle one.” Clint grinned cheekily.

The others all nodded along, much to Erik and Charles’ surprise.

“Well, it is settled then, you are the new boss.” Tony grinned, as he leaned down to pull Charles into another last hug. “Take care, Big Brain.”

“You too, Big Head.” Charles murmured back as he tightened his arms around him. “You will come back, alright? All of you. You can’t just leave me in this mess and go.”

“Okay.” Tony murmured with a small smile as he pulled away.

Erik moved and placed a hand on Dean’s shoulder, who looked at him in surprise.

“Don’t get yourself killed.” Erik said quietly but sincerely. “Both of you.” he looked over at Castiel then back at Dean. “I don’t like losing friends this fast.”

“You got it, Magnets.” Dean grinned back at him, while Castiel just smiled.

“Don’t call me that.”

“You like it.”

“No, I don’t think I am.”

“You will come back.” Bucky glared at Steve as he pulled him in a hug. “You can’t leave me alone in this century, Punk. You hear me?”

“Yeah, okay.” Steve patted his shoulder as he hugged him back. “You will miss me too much.”

“I will miss having someone to shout at.”

“See? You will miss me.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t you dare to ruin your wedding by dying.” Clint called out to Natasha and Sam warningly. “I already wrote my speech, don’t you dare to make my effort go to waste.”

“Your speech alone will make us wish to die.” Natasha rolled her eyes, while Sam just laughed as Clint pulled him into a hug.

Another round of hugs happened yet again, like they were all unwilling to let them go.

But they eventually had to pull away with one last, tear filled, goodbyes.

The ride down in the elevator was silent, as they all looked down and thought about what they were about to face.

“We will manage to come back, right?” Dean murmured as he looked up at the others.

They turned to him, then looked at each other as they took a moment to find an answer.

“Yeah.” Tony answered looking strangely confident. “We faced worse before. Hell, we are a team that consists of a living legend Supersoldier, an ex-Russian assassin, a badass Angel of the lord, two hardcore monster hunters with brand new superhero suits and a genius in an iron suit. What could possibly defeat that?”

His confident words made them all straight up with renewed hope.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded with a small smile as he wrapped an arm around Tony’s shoulders. “What could defeat that?”

“Yeah, we faced worse and got back in one piece every time.” Sam shrugged as he and Natasha shared a small smile. “And I really don’t want to miss my own wedding.”

Dean and Castiel shared a long look, before a small smile found its way on both their faces, as they rested their foreheads against each other.

“We will come back.” Castiel stated in a strong voice. “We will.”

***

“From Captain Rogers to base, the engines are working perfectly and we are ready to take off.”

Steve said through the comms, as he sat at the pilot seat in the small space shuttle, beside him sat Dean, right behind him Tony with Castiel beside him, then Sam and Natasha at the back.

They all held on into their seats as they prepared to go to space for the very first time.

“All preparation for takeoff are done, the countdown will start now.” A firm voice said from the comms. “Ten…Nine…Eight…Seven…”

The countdown continued and they all held their breaths as they held on even tighter to their seats.

“….Zero.”

With the last number, Steve pressed a big red button.

And the shuttle took off.

Its body raised from the ground, and then took off in a sharp right angle towards space.

When it passed the clouds by three kilometers, the high frequency was emitted, then a muted version of The Noise sounded.

The shuttle glowed for a second, then disappeared.

Disappeared with everyone inside it as it preached the Stars Passage.


	6. Chapter 6

Charles looked around at the team as they all sat around in the living room in an uncharacteristic silence and with sadness itched deep on their faces. Their minds filled with fear, worry and grief for their departed family members. 

He couldn’t really blame them, his heart was hurting since the moment Tony told him they were going on that mission. He didn’t want them to go. Didn’t want to wait around, wondering if he will ever see his friends again. Wondering if he will ever see Tony’s happy, carefree smile again as he bickered with him, if he will ever see Steve and Castiel’s kind smiles, Dean’s boyish grin that made him look ten years younger, Sam’s bright eyes as he found something to nerd about or even Natasha’s well-hidden fond smiles.

The Winchesters were in their lives for a short while, but Charles already loved seeing Erik’s world expanding. Loved his budding friendship with Tony and the three Winchesters. He loved seeing Erik smiling and laughing more often than ever.

Since the whole thing with the shadow world, three houses were joined instead of only two anymore. Tony managed, by introducing them to the Winchesters, to join three forces together. The Avengers, The X-Men and The Winchester family. Becoming a bigger family. Tony started to come to the mansion again more frequently like before, always dragging the others with him, who came willingly.

The two hunters and the angel became a big part of their lives, having their friendship was certainly a really nice thing to own.

But now they were gone, along with his childhood friend and brother, along with his husband who had a beautiful heart of gold and dear friend, with also a dangerous but a kind friend, who he loves her like a sister.

And he had no idea if they will ever come back.

He felt a hand being placed on his gently, and he looked up to see Erik sitting next to him and trailing his finger gently over his knuckles, as he watched Charles with a worried look.

Charles tried to smile reassuringly at him, but he knew that he failed when Erik’s frown deepened.

“Are you stressed from your worry about them or being the new leader in this situation?” Erik murmured quietly as he searched Charles’ eyes carefully.

Huh, he almost forgot about that second part. That explained why he felt his body tensing all the time.

It was a huge responsibility. All those people were looking up at him, and will need for him to always make the right call to get them out of this with as less damage as they could.

He wasn’t sure he could do that.

“Both.” Charles finally answered Erik’s question as he looked up to Erik’s eyes with a small bitter smile.

Erik sighed then leaned down to press a kiss on the back of Charles’ hand, then trailed his lips to kiss each knuckle gently. Charles felt his heart grow ten times in his chest. Erik was always so sweet with him. Sure, he was sometimes cold, harsh and short tempered towards everyone else, but with Charles, he was always gentle, sweet, caring and loving. Like Charles was a precious thing that needs to be cherished and protected. Even though he wasn’t really that breakable and fragile, he will never complain from having that side of Erik all to himself like that. A side that was solely his.

“They will come back.” Erik murmured quietly as he raised his eyes to meet Charles’, a sure look in his eyes. “They are a team of extremely stubborn people. Each one of them is very hard to kill on their own. Together? They will be a force to be reckon with. They will protect and look out for each other. You know that.” then leaned forward to rest his forehead against Charles’. “As for the leadership, you will be fine. You are one hell of a leader. Everyone here respects and look up to you. If you managed to make Logan follow your lead all those years, then nothing will get in your way. Besides, you will not be alone. I am here for you. Always will be.”

“I know you will.” Charles smiled gently as he pressed his lips softly against his husband’s. Feeling warmth spreading through his entire body. Of course Erik will be there for him. He had been for years and years now. It became a constant fact in Charles’ life. “Thank you, darling. For being here.”

“Always.” Erik smiled as he pressed another kiss to his lips, before pulling away a little. “Now, come on. They need you to give them a push. They look too quiet and too defeated for my liking. Just give them one of your hope speeches. That always makes me dizzy, with that accent of yours.”

“It will be my pleasure, my darling.” Charles grinned as he let his accent get thicker as he said that sentence, watching with delight as Erik grinned at him lovingly.

He then rolled over so he was facing the quiet, dejected looking team. Bruce was sitting on the couch as he absentmindedly raked his fingers through Thor’s hair, who was using his legs as a pillow. Bucky was hunched over in an armchair as he stared down at his fisted hands in his lap. Clint was just staring in the distance, a blank look on his face. Raven was on the floor, her knees pulled up towards her chest and just stared straight ahead. Hank’s leg was jumping up and down in nervousness and looked anxious. Logan was smoking a cigarette silently, which was his way in showing sadness most of the time.

“Alright, gentlemen. I need you to listen to me.” He started in a calm, reassuring voice. They all looked up at him expectantly, giving him their full attention. “I know what you are feeling. Literally, since I could hear it and feel it from you. I know it is a hard situation, that we have no idea how to deal with while worrying about our friends up there, but they counted on us to try and protect the Earth, while they risk their lives up there for the same reason. They count on us, the world is counting on us to at least give the people some hope that we will manage to defeat this. Our friends will come back. You know how hot headed they all are. They will fight their way back to Earth. In the meantime, we have to keep this Earth safe. Are you ready to do that?”

By the time he finished his words, they all straightened up and were looking at him with renewed confidence. They nodded along to his words, while Erik just smiled at him in pride.

“Fantastic. Now, we need as much help as we can get. So, you will call Sam Wilson, Rhodey and Charlie to come here. The more we are, the better and-“

His words were cut off when Thor let out a small groan as he held his head tightly, before they could ask him what was happening, they all heard the muted Noise coming from everywhere and they all froze as their eyes turned involuntarily towards the large windows to stare at the sky.

That muted version of the Noise meant that their friends just started their mission.

That they were in the Stars Passage at that moment.

***

A strange sensation spread through all of them the moment they entered the Stars Passage. 

A strong shudder ran through their bodies along with a cold as ice shiver that felt like a burst of cold wind hit their faces, which made them feel like their hearts was being ripped out.

Then everything went away suddenly.

They gasped as they tried to gather in their surroundings again. Steve was trying desperately to control his shivering as he still felt the cold deep in his bones and saw Tony clutching at his chest nervously. He turned to check on everyone else and saw that they were all staring at the endless space in front of them with all its stars and far away planets.

Dean glanced down to look at the screen that told them their current location.

“Wow, we are three light years away from Earth.” He announced with wide eyes.

“What?” Tony murmured in awe. “That’s amazing!”

“Three light years in one jump?” Sam wondered with wide eyes.

“This is supposed to be the location of the first preach.” Steve announced as he checked the numbers and data in front of him.

“Weird. Everything looks calm and empty. The space is just going on and on endlessly. No spaceships or anything.” Dean frowned as he looked around carefully.

“There aren’t even any planets around.” Tony added in confusion.

“What does this mean?” Natasha asked carefully.

“Maybe we reached the wrong location?” Sam questioned hesitantly.

“No way.” Steve shook his head firmly. “SHIELD were very precise about this and everything in front of me confirms we are in the right place.”

“Maybe it is the location of the first preach but not the location of the first attack.” Dean suggested with a shrug.

“But the attack came from several places.”

“What if they tricked us?” Castiel said suddenly after being silent all this time.

“What do you mean?” Steve asked in worry.

“Obviously, their knowledge of the Stars Passage is huge, and they somehow found out that we knew about it, so they are playing us. Send us towards one location then attack from another.”

“I don’t think they have a reason to do that as long as they can preach the passage from any spot they want.” Tony stated with a small frown.

“Yes, but I think they are still lacking enough information about us and still don’t know the result of a direct attack.”

“There must be another explanation.”

“Is there any livable planets in this area?” Sam asked curiously.

Tony checked his tablet that was connected to the shuttle’s database then shook his head. “There are no livable planets in half a million radius.”

They all shared a confused lost look, not sure what to do.

“Well, found something or not, let’s just do what we came here to do.” Natasha stated as she looked around carefully. “Let’s gather any information we can get from this location and-“

Before she could finish, the shuttle shook suddenly, then both Steve and Castiel groaned in pain and their hands shot up to hold their heads in pain.

“What? What is it?” Dean exclaimed in panic as they all trailed their eyes in worry between the both of them. 

“I don’t know.” Steve groaned in pain as he opened one eye painfully.

“Shit. I know.” Tony announced grimly and they turned to him to see that his face was pale. “It is another Noise.”

“What?” Dean’s eyes widened as he looked around nervously. “But I didn’t hear anything.”

“You can’t hear it here. Sound doesn’t travel through space, but you will feel its effect.” Castiel explained as the pain seemed to subside from him and Steve.

“Wait, so this means-“

Before he could finish, and before anyone could react, two battleships appeared in front of them.

They appeared out of nowhere suddenly, then without any sound, they attacked their shuttle viciously.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we just reached the bad stuff. I'm sorry for what will happen. A happy ending will be waiting. Promise!

“Everyone ready?”

Charles asked as both the remaining Avengers and X-Men gathered in the room in front of him.

“The Air Force are ready to defend.” Rhodey reported in response. “In every part of the country, they are ready to engage in a matter of one minute after any preach.”

“That if they gave us one minute.” Bucky muttered bitterly.

“That’s all we have got so far.” Rhodey just sighed in defeat.

“What SHEILD is doing now?” Charles asked as he trailed his eyes between them.

“They are doing their best and try to stop the bastards from preaching.” Clint answered tiredly.

“I think their efforts are pointless.” Bruce interjected grimly. “It is impossible to close the Stars Passage from everywhere on Earth. One way or another, they will find a path to our world.”

“Not if we preached their world first.” Thor continued with a frown.

“That is not possible until we have enough information about them.” Charles pursed his lips sadly.

They all shared nervous looks for a few seconds.

“You really think they will make it?” Raven murmured quietly, like she was afraid of the answer.

“They are our only hope and they know it.” Charles answered quietly as his heart clinched in fear and worry.

“You know, I thought about it, and realized that when they reach their destination, through the passage, they will find nothing.” Hank started with a small frown on his face.

That made everyone turned to him with worried frowns on their faces.

“What do you mean?” Erik asked in worry.

“If I was in the place of those aliens and I wanted to pass through the Stars Passage to another world, that I am worried it might have limited knowledge about the passage, then I won’t pass it directly from my world.”

“What does that mean?” Logan repeated Erik’s question impatiently.

“I must protect my world and keep its secrets when I transfer towards another world, so logically, I would jump towards a neutral location first, then jump to that other world. That way, no information that other world will find will lead to the location of my world, but only to that neutral location.”

“That is very logical.” Charles frowned as he grabbed the armrests of his wheelchair tightly.

“Wait, if that true, they will not leave that neutral spot unguarded.” Charlie added with a pale face.

Their eyes all widened at that in panic.

“But this means they are in danger right now!” Bucky exclaimed frantically. “We have to-“

Thor’s shout cut him off as the demigod dropped to his knees and groaned loudly in pain as he held his head in his hands, Bruce immediately kneeled down next to him and grabbed at him frantically.

Then they all heard the Noise as it sounded powerfully from everywhere around them and they all tensed.

“They are attacking.” Wilson murmured with wide eyes as he stared from outside the large windows.

They followed his gaze and realized that he was right.

They were attacking.

***

The moment Steve saw the two battleships, he swerved the shuttle fast to the side, managing to avoid two strong laser beams that one of the ships released, while the second ship flew fast in attempt to trap him between them.

Steve lowered the shuttle fast and moved under the second ship but the first one shot again.

This time it hits.

They yelped when they felt the shuttle shake from the hit.

“Fuck, they hit us.” Dean groaned as he gripped his chair tightly.

“A minor hit. Nothing is damaged.” Steve exclaimed as he swerved sharply to the left.

“How do you know?” Natasha asked frantically.

“We are still going, right?” with that, he pressed a button and saw two laser beams shooting out of their shuttle towards one of the ships. “Huh. That could help.”

The ship swerved away fast and managed to avoid the laser beams.

Almost anyway.

One of the laser hit one of its delicate wings and dislocated it violently.

The ship lost its balance and shot out towards the endless space, twirling around itself sharply away further and further into space.

Steve swerved again fast to avoid the second ship as it attacked viciously.

With a fast, fantastic jump, he was behind the second ship and shoot.

The ship exploded silently and its shrapnel flew everywhere.

Their eyes widened in awe as they stared at Steve.

“Damn, dude! You did it! How the hell did you do that?” Dean exclaimed in awe as he turned to Steve.

“Well, apparently, space shuttles aren’t that much different from fighter jets.” Steve chuckled a little nervously, appearing to be as astonished as them.

“Look out!” Tony and Castiel shouted suddenly and pointed up ahead.

They turned and saw a large shrapnel from the ship coming towards them sharply.

“Shit, shit!” Sam exclaimed while Natasha stared in panic.

Steve swerved again fast and managed to avoid it hitting the body.

But just as they were about to let out a relieved breath, the shrapnel hit the shuttle’s tail and broke it violently.

The shuttle’s balance went crazy.

Castiel and Dean’s eyes widened in panic, Tony cursed loudly, while Sam and Natasha grabbed their seats tightly.

Meanwhile, Steve did everything he can to regain control of the shuttle.

It wasn’t easy, but he managed to do it.

He finally regained control over the shuttle and released its back rockets to balance it again.

Until it stopped completely.

In the middle of the endless, dark space.

***

The crack in the sky appeared this time directly over New York.

Four battleships preached our world, then with no mercy, they started reaping anything alive or not with their laser beams.

Cars.

Houses.

Animals.

And humans.

This time, the Air Force and the Avengers fought back.

Thor attacked one of the ships by flying right through it and split it into two halves and Hulk destroying its remains to pieces.

Rhodey and Sam managed to bring down the second one pretty fast.

The third one was about to shoot at Bucky, who was perched on top of one of the buildings shooting at the battleships, but it was frozen suddenly in midair and started to crunch down on itself, until it became a huge ball of metal. Bucky turned and saw Erik on another building with his palm held up.

“Doing well so far, guys.” Clint praised with a grin as he shot the fourth ship with one of his arrows.

“Don’t jinx it, Katniss.” Raven rolled her eyes with a sigh. She, Logan and Hank were on the ground, in case one of the battleships decided to land, since the three of them are not flyers, jumpers or shooters.

They all turned to face the last ship but then they froze as they looked up at the sky. Hundreds of battleships came through the crack in the sky and started to hunt down the Air Force’s fighter jets and them mercilessly. Not caring what gets in their way.

Bucky was two seconds away from being turned to ashes yet again, but Sam swooped in and flied him away as he tried to dodge the laser beams raining down on them.

“Take cover! Everyone take cover now!” Charles’ voice screamed in all their heads. The telepath didn’t need to use comms, obviously, since he literally could be in everyone’s heads watching and listening with barley any effort from his part.

A dozen ships teamed up on Thor and managed to drive him to the ground, while raining lasers on him, but Hulk jumped and covered Thor’s body with his and screamed in rage as he took all the lasers on himself. Clint yelped as he jumped from roof to another trying to escape from the twenty ships trying to kill him, until he managed to jump through a window to stay out of sight.

Logan gripped both Raven and Hank and rushed to take cover in a store when a few ships found them.

Meanwhile, over fifty ships were surrounding Erik from everywhere and he was holding both his palms out, holding them all frozen in midair but his face was red from the amount of effort he was using.

“They are too many, Charles.” Erik grounded out painfully as he tried to not lose his focus. “I don’t think I will be able to hold them off much longer and they are too many for me to crush them all at once.”

“Retreat, Erik. Get out of there! Tell everyone to get out of there, we can’t win this battle!” Charles was shouting desperately.

“They are hunting down my friends!” Rhodey yelled frantically as he watched the fighter jets being destroyed without mercy. “They are fine, young men. We can’t just retreat like that!”

“Rhodey, they are relentless and merciless, we can’t win now!”

“No! I will not abandon them!” with that Rhodey shot forward to face down one of the ships.

“Rhodey, No!” 

Six ships turned towards Rhodey, then turned on themselves in a weird way, before releasing hundreds of small black balls.

From this balls, strong electromagnetic waves was released over the entire area.

Erik screamed as he collapsed to his knees and felt blood falling from his nose, but kept his control over the ships nonetheless.

Sam stuttered suddenly while he was flying with Bucky in his arms, and suddenly they started to fall.

“What? What happened?!” Bucky yelled as he grabbed him hard.

“The jets stopped! Whatever they did, it stopped my jets! We are falling!” Sam yelled frantically as the ground got closer and closer.

Just before they reached the ground, Bucky turned them so he was the one who will take the hit. Wilson didn’t get a chance to protest, as they hit the ground painfully and rolled around harshly.

Even the fighter jets stopped suddenly in midair, since the electromagnetic waves messed up their engines too, and gave the battleships the chance to hunt them down easily.

“Guys, my suit! It stopped working!” Rhodey yelled frantically. “It stopped and they are coming at me!”

“Fall! Fall towards the ground!” Charles yelled in panic.

“I can’t! They are keeping me up! I can’t.” the six ships all darted towards the frozen Rhodey all at once, planning to crash into him. “Guys, I-“

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. And he never will ever again. Because in the next second, the six ships crashed into him mercilessly and they all exploded violently in the air.

“Rhodey!” Everyone screamed in terror at the scene, unable to believe what just happened. Didn’t want to believe it. 

After that, everything went silent suddenly. The battleships stopped attacking, like they just finished their mission, then just turned calmly around and darted towards the sky to disappear again towards the crack, which wielded yet again like it was never there.

Silence was left behind. Silence that was filled with shock, grief, pain and death.


	8. Chapter 8

“I can’t believe I am saying this, but plane crash is way better than being stuck in fucking space.” Dean growled in anger as he looked in frustration. “Are we done for?”

“I am ready to release the needed frequency to jump through the Stars Passage.” Tony murmured uncertainly, his hand hovering over his tablet.

“We need to know if we were going the right way.” Steve frowned in frustration.

“I am guessing this will be impossible without the tail.” Castiel muttered with pursed lips and furrowed brows.

“We need to fix it then.” Dean said, turning to Steve.

“Yeah, but this means having to leave the shuttle and-“

“I will do it.” Sam announced in determination.

Everyone turned to him with wide shocked eyes. Dean and Natasha’s surprise changed fast to anger as they started to protest.

“What are you-‘

“Are you fucking-“

“Before any of your protests, you need to know this is the obvious choice right now, not some heroic thing I want to do.” Sam cut them off firmly as he trailed his eyes on their faces carefully. “Everyone on Earth depends on our return, or at least the return of one of us, to tell them about any info we will find. If you thought about it, Tony is the only one who can replicate the frequency the aliens used to come from their world, to here by analyzing the muted Noise from earlier, Steve is the expert pilot here in case we faced another attack, Dean is the Co-pilot in case anything happened to Steve and Cas is needed way more than me right now honestly.”

“And what about me?” Natasha glared at him angrily.

“Come on, Nat. there is no way I am letting you go out there.” Sam sighed tiredly.

“Are you a fucking hypocrite? You will not let me out there but you are willing to go and expect me to accept it?”

“Sam, don’t be an idiot, you are not doing it.” Dean scowled firmly at him.

“Guys, there is no time for this. You know it is the logical choice here.”

“Sam, do you even know how to fix the tail?” Tony asked carefully.

“I know how to wield, and if it was more complicated than that, you will walk me through it.” Sam just shrugged as he gazed at them all. “Come on, you guys. You already knew it was a suicide mission, so what’s the difference? We don’t have time. I promise I will be careful.”

They exchanged worried looks between them but had no idea how to argue with his logic anymore.

“I hate this. I fucking hate this.” Dean growled as he looked away in frustration.

Natasha just looked down to glare hard at her clinched fists.

“Alright, Sam. Put on one of the space suits, we don’t want to waste anymore time.” Steve sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in worry.

Sam nodded and stoop up, but before he could move, Natasha shot up and pulled him down for a quick kiss.

“Be safe.” She murmured against his lips softly.

“Always.” He murmured back with another kiss, before pulling away. He looked over at Dean and Castiel and gave them a thumbs up with a nervous smile, they both just send him concerned, helpless looks.

Worry and panic settled on all of them, that no one said a word until Sam was out of the shuttle and moved towards the tail slowly.

Natasha was gripping the arms of her chair tightly, Dean’s leg was jumping up and down rapidly from fear and frustration, Castiel was staring down at his hands in his lap feeling utterly useless, Tony was gripping his tablet hard and not really willing to look at anyone, Steve tried to keep his focus on the mission as much as he could.

“Sam? Can you hear me?” Steve called out through the comms.

“Yeah, Cap. I hear you clearly.” Sam answered immediately.

“Do you see the damage?”

“Yup. That shrapnel hit it directly, but luckily it wasn’t separated completely.”

“You will be able to wield it then?” Dean asked hopefully.

“Of course, it might take time, but I can do it.”

“Your oxygen will only be enough for six hours, Sam.” Tony reminded carefully. “You think it will be enough?”

“Well, I certainly hope so.” He muttered as he already started to work. Soon, the idiot started singing ‘All out of love’ in an attempt to pass the time and release the tension, earning a few eye rolls and some chuckles from everyone.

“Do you think he will do it?” Natasha murmured quietly. Her hands still clinched around the armrests.

“He might be a dork, but he will do it.” Dean answered confidently, but the worry was obvious on his face.

“I think we should probably do our own work as we wait.” Tony announced as he glanced down at his tablet to start working. “Come on, Kin Doll. Let’s gather everything from the Shuttle’s computer and see what we got.” He said as he handed Dean another tablet.

Dean sighed as he connected it to the Shuttle’s computer, for some reason Tony always insisted that Dean helps in any research or tech thing the genius was doing. Insisting that Dean was more than capable to do it and was smart enough to understand. Dean wasn’t sure where did he get all that confidence in him.

Steve turned in his chair and was talking quietly to Castiel about something, so Dean tuned them out to focus on not making a fool of himself as he started to search through the shuttle’s data.

Soon, he was absorbed in what he was doing. He managed, from the data the shuttle had gathered, to build information about the invaders’ battleships.

Their design, materials, weaponry, speed, ability to maneuver and even its approximate weight.

Meanwhile, Tony was busy doing something else. Analyzing the unheard Noise by calculating the jolting of the shuttle, also its weight, speed and other factors that if calculated wrong even if it was a small mistake, it will mean inaccuracy in determining the needed frequency that will lead them to identifying the invaders and knowing their place in the universe.

No one knows how time flew that fast, but they all paid attention when Natasha’s voice sounded.

“Five hours and a half. I think Sam should get ready to come back inside, even if he didn’t fully fix the tail. His oxygen will run out in only thirty minutes.” She said nervously. Looks like her nerves were on edge during all those hours.

“Sam? Do you copy? How is your work going?” Steve called through the comms.

“I copy. Almost done. I need at least another hour.”

“You don’t have another hour, Sam.” Dean frowned at that. “Your oxygen will-“

Steve and Castiel let out pained shouts and jerked in pain just when the shuttle jolts five times more violently than last time.

“Shit! Shit! It’s a Noise!” Tony exclaimed in panic.

After he said those words, they all let out a loud gasp as they stared with wide, terrified eyes at the scene in front of them.

An entire fleet of the invaders’ battleships surrounded them completely and efficiently.

With no way to escape.

***

Thor knocked softly on the door before entering the room, where Charles locked himself in to just watch Erik’s unconscious body grimly.

No one said a word since what happened. Since they lost-they lost Rhodey.

After that dreadful explosion and the fast retreat of the invaders’ battleships, Erik fell unconscious from the amount of power he used to save himself, Clint hurt his ankle from throwing himself through a glass window hard, Bucky’s back was injured from his and Wilson’s harsh fall but he was healing pretty well and the most shocking news, Hulk was truly hurt from the attack. They don’t know how that happened, but those bastards managed to actually harm the Hulk.

And that scared them all. Specially Thor.

They all had so much to lose now. The fact that they just lost a member of their family, took its toll on all of them.

Charles most of all.

The telepath didn’t leave the room since what happened. Blaming himself for some reason Thor couldn’t quite understand.

Rhodey’s death was not Charles’ fault. He had to know that.

He approached the silent telepath quietly. He didn’t indicate that he heard Thor coming, but he probably felt his presence, he just didn’t acknowledge it. He just stared down at Erik’s face, while he gripped his hand in both his.

“How is he?” he asked quietly as he stood next to the telepath.

There was silence for a few minutes before Charles finally answered. 

“He will be fine. Maybe will wake up any moment, I don’t know.” He didn’t even look up at him, but at least he answered, that was progress.

“He is very strong willed. Nothing managed to affect his laser sharp focus as he controlled over fifty battleships.” Thor praised as he gave Erik’s form an impressed smile. It was glorious to see him at the peak of his power like that. He never got a chance before to actually see Erik’s power. No wonder he was considered one of the most powerful mutants on Earth.

“He is quite stubborn to die.” Charles murmured with a small hollow smile that didn’t even reach his grief filled eyes. They were silent for a few seconds before Charles spoke again. “How are things? Around the world?”

“There was attacks in Egypt, England, Japan and Australia. All ended in failure and great losses in lives. England, Japan and Egypt decided to surrender. Not wanting to risk their people’s lives. Russia just joined them a while ago. The rest only need a small push to follow them.”

“Those they managed to break our fighting spirit, then?” Charles murmured in sadness and defeat. “And us? Are we surrendering too?”

“No, we did not. Maybe when the team comes back we will be able to-“

“You still believes they are coming back?” Charles cut him off bitterly, his eyes closing in pain. “It’s been ten hours, Thor, with no word from them. If they faced half what we faced here, then they died hours ago.”

“You don’t know that. They will come back and-“

“Look around you, Thor!” Charles snapped suddenly as he turned to look at him. His eyes were wide and filled with grief, bitterness and hopelessness. Three things he never saw in the telepath’s eyes before. “We can’t win this. Even if by a miracle they come back, we will not be able to win. I don’t even know how I will look in Tony’s eyes and tell him that his best friend was blown to bits! We lost from the first battle. There is no way we can win against this.”

“So what? We will surrender too? Let those invaders take the planet we have been protecting for years now? Give up on the people who are still putting their hopes on us?” Thor snapped back as he looked down at Charles in challenge. “This was just one battle. The war didn’t end yet.”

“I don’t want to risk anymore lives. I will not be able to handle another loss.” Charles looked away with a pained look on his face. “I don’t want to lose anyone else.”

“Rhodey’s death is not on you. It is on them, and they will pay for it.” Thor said in determination, as he straightened up to his full height. “The team didn’t give up. They all are ready to fight again. Fight until the end. We will avenge Rhodey. Avenge every life those bastards took mercilessly. Because that is what we do and will die doing it.”

“We will not give up.” They were both startled to hear Erik’s strong voice, they turned to see him sitting on the bed, watching them with a determined look. “They took something from us. So they will pay for it. We will not let them win this easily without a fight. They need to know what they just messed with.”

Charles trailed his eyes between them for a few seconds before sighing in defeat and looked away.

“Alright.” He said with as much determination as he could muster. “We will keep fighting. Until the very end.” 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little short, still effective.

Something was happening.

The time ship was jolting violently.

That’s what Castiel felt with a strange feeling of cautiousness that spread through his muscles and made him unable to get up. Dean had long passed out in a chair and was unaware of what was happening.

Does this mean that there is something wrong with the time ship? Could this affect the journey?

Or even got them lost in the Time River?

He should get up. Try to figure out what was happening. Try to fix it somehow.

Tony would have been able to fix this. Steve would have that proud smile on his face as he watched his husband fix and build.

But they are both not here. They are gone. He and Dean are on their own in this.

He felt like there was a huge hand pressed against his chest, pressing him down in his chair, making it impossible to get up.

He figured it was probably grief and pain.

The strangest thing was that even his mind wasn’t the same.

He knows that there is a problem.

He knows how dangerous it is.

But he couldn’t bring himself to care.

So what if the time ship stopped working entirely? Or got lost forever?

So what? They had already lost everything. It won’t matter much now. Nothing will.

He found himself unconsciously slip back into his recent memories.

The memories of their loss.

***

_Four days ago._

There was nothing that could be done.

Even if Steve was the most expert pilot who ever lived, they still won’t have a chance.

The invaders’ battleships surrounded them from literally everywhere, like the way an atom surrounds its core.

Because they surrounded them from the right, left, up, down, front and behind.

It didn’t need much brain to know that all their weapons are locked on them, ready to turn them into nothing.

“Guys, are you seeing this?” Sam’s panicked voice reached them, snapping them out of their trance.

“How can we not see it?” Tony answered bitterly, his eyes glued to the scene in front of them.

“What are they going to do to us?”

“If they want us dead, they’d have done that by now.” Castiel muttered carefully.

The battleships were frozen around them. Like they were waiting for them to do anything so they could attack.

“Sam, listen carefully.” Steve started calmly through the comms, eyes never leaving the scene. “Move slowly towards the stabilizing chamber’s door and get back inside.”

“Slowly, Sam. Try to be as invisible as you can.” Dean added carefully but anxiously. “I mean it, Sam.”

“Okay. Okay.” Sam answered nervously as he started to move slowly towards the pressure stabilizing chamber at the end of the shuttle, as slowly and carefully as he could. The battleships just stayed frozen, like they were watching what he was doing in interest.

Suddenly, one of the battleships started to move and fly towards the shuttle.

“What are they going to do?” Natasha exclaimed as they all tensed and Steve’s hands jumped to the controllers, but the ship passed over them directly, then stopped.

It just floated above them silently.

“What are they doing?” Castiel asked in confusion.

“I don’t know.” Tony shrugged tensely. “Maybe-“

“Shit! Guys! They are targeting me! They-“ Sam yelled suddenly and his voice was cut off by a loud noise.

“Sam! Sam, no!” Natasha exclaimed in panic, while everyone tensed.

“They took him! Those fucking bastards took my brother!” Dean screamed as he watched the battleship fly away.

Steve immediately started behind the ship as fast as he could.

The strange part was that the other ships didn’t even move until their shuttle passed them, then all the ships followed them like their shuttle was attracting them or something.

Their shuttle jolted hard suddenly.

“Oh, God.” Tony’s face was pale. “I think they are trying to-“

Before he could finish, they saw a huge crack appearing through space, revealing a huge star, which the ship that took Sam flew right at it.

Before Steve could comprehend what was happening, the shuttle had already passed through the crack, followed by all the other battleships.

Then the crack closed behind them.

Like it had never been there. 

***

Two more attacks happened in New York.

But this time, the team managed to avoid any more losses and hold on long enough each time, until the invaders retreat again.

That gave hope to everyone for a while. The fact that they managed to stay on their feet this long was certainly something.

Until it fell apart.

“They attacked Japan and Egypt.” Wilson announced with a pale face as he entered the room. “This time is worse than ever.”

“What do you mean?” Charles asked in worry as the others tensed. They really couldn’t handle any more bad news. They were barley holding on.

“All I am saying is that the invaders finally decided to invade, not just attack and flee anymore.” Wilson said a little shakily. “JARVIS, show them.”

A holoscreen appeared in the middle of the room, showing the presidential mansion in Egypt, in its garden was a large banner that said ‘We surrender. We want peace, not war.’ And around stood the president, his vice, his ministers and their assistants.

In the sky, there was battleships that flew around them like vultures circling their pray.

Through a microphone, the Egyptian president started to talk in a nervous voice: “We don’t want to fight. If you understand us, you need to know that we only want peace. Only peace.”

He repeated his words over and over again, while the ships circled the sky carelessly. Like they didn’t care about whatever the president was saying.

Then suddenly, the ships took an attack formation in the shape of an arrow head.

The president stopped talking and everyone around him froze.

It seemed like the whole world froze, waiting for the invaders’ next move.

Then the laser beams rained on everyone mercilessly.

Without warning, it started reaping the president with all his companions and leaders.

Even the mansion itself.

“God, they refused peace! They are attacking without mercy! Run! They will kill us all!” the reporter was screaming in terror.

With his words, the arrow head formation scattered as the ships attacked everything and everyone that got in their way.

“Run! Run!” the reporter screamed as he ran as fast as he could before he was hit with a laser beam that terminated him completely, then the screen went dark.

The room froze as everyone’s eyes widened in terror and bitterness that fill their entire being.

That was horrible. No words to describe this. To describe the pain and fear they were feeling.

This was big. Bigger than everything they ever faced.

Even bigger than them.

No one said anything for a long time as they just stared at each other helplessly.

“The same thing happened in Japan.” Wilson broke the silence as he reported bitterly. “More than a million victims and wounded. Cairo and Tokyo were removed from the map. Alexandria and Yokohama are nothing but ruins. Terror has filled the world. Surrendering is not going to work.”

“We should have been there.” Clint muttered bitterly.

“We are barely hanging on here.” Erik sighed with a shake of his head. “We move. Here, will fall apart.”

“Surrendering won’t work. So we fight.” Charles frowned in pain.

“There is no other choice.” Bruce muttered bitterly. “Maybe death will be the endgame. But that doesn’t mean we don’t fight and resist for our freedom.”

“Didn’t you guys notice something?” Bucky announced suddenly with furrowed brows.

“What?” Logan raised an eyebrow at him. “The color of their ships or something?”

“No, the invaders only attacked the countries that decided to surrender from the start, which means they already knew there will be no resistance.”

“What are you trying to say, Bucky?” Charlie asked in confusion.

“What I am saying is that they are still trying to break our fighting spirits. Only attacking the surrendered and the unarmed. A despicable way to control us.”

“That’s-that’s actually made sense.” Raven muttered with wide eyes.

“They are still fearing to face our forces directly.” Charles announced with furrowed brows. “That’s why their attacks here only lasted a few minutes. The first time, they used the electromagnetic balls that costs us Rhodey and many brave men from the Air Force. The next times they failed to use it because we came prepared and told JARVIS to stop the balls if they ever use it again.” he looked up to trail his eyes on their faces. “There might be hope, my friends.”

“Of course, Charles.” Erik had a determined look on his face as he faced everyone. “Then we fight. We will fight until the very end, and if they managed to invade us, then we will make them pay.” Then he straightened up to his full height as he said his next words. “Like Stark said once, if we can’t save the Earth, then we damn will avenge it.”


	10. Chapter 10

A cold shiver ran through their bodies as they jumped into the Stars Passage, before they found themselves in another part in the endless space.

The moment they reached the new spot, a bright strong light shined in their faces, forcing them to close their eyes and look away.

“What the hell is this?” Tony exclaimed with a pained grimace. “Did they threw us into the sun or something?”

The light faded after a few seconds, until they were finally able to open their eyes.

Only for them to stare at the scene in front of them with wide eyes.

In front of them was the largest space ship they ever saw in their lives or could even imagine.

A space ship that looked like a planet with a few smooth parts that held circular lights, each one in the size of an entire city.

Through many openings, a huge number of battleships emerged to surround them.

Over million battleships, which was ten times worse than their worst expectations.

A number that could easily invade the Earth.

Or the entire solar system if they wanted.

“Okay, I have to be honest here, how are we ever going to defeat that?” Dean muttered bitterly as he stared at everything with huge eyes.

“Don’t let the size discourage you.” Steve murmured back, eyes still watching everything.

“Oh yeah? What about the numbers? That is not discouraging enough for you?” Dean stated harshly as he turned to glare at Steve.

“Where is the ship that took Sam? We can’t just leave him with them.” Natasha exclaimed anxiously.

“I think we are about to join him soon.” Castiel stated bitterly, making them stare silently at the opening they were being led to.

“Why are we letting them lead us like a lamb to a slaughter?” Tony asked indignantly. “Why aren’t we trying to escape?”

“Escape where?” Natasha muttered.

“We are no longer in control of the shuttle.” Steve announced grimly as he let go of the controllers.

“Then who is controlling us?” Dean asked nervously. Steve just crossed his arms across his chest and gestured towards the opening they were being led to without commenting. It was answering enough. “Fuck.”

Slowly and in the middle of two rows of battleships, the shuttle slipped through the opening that appeared to be leading to a wide smooth path that seemed to be going on forever.

Smoothly, the shuttle flew through the long path for almost two hundred meters surrounded by battleships, before they reached a wide space with a circle in the middle, where the shuttle finally stopped.

“Guys? Can anyone hear me?” Sam’s voice exclaimed through the comms making everyone freeze for a second.

“He’s alive. God, he’s alive.” Natasha sighed in relief as her body relaxed a little.

“Sam! Sammy, hey. We can hear you just fine. Where are you? What did they do to you?” Dean rained down questions on him anxiously.

“I-I don’t know, Dean.” Sam answered nervously, fear apparent in his voice. “They are keeping me in a sphere like thing with no gravity. I am just floating inside it.”

“Are you alright? Did they do something to you?” Castiel called out in worry.

“No, they did nothing so far. I don’t even know why they are keeping me here.”

“Did you see them? What does they look like?” Steve asked carefully.

“I don’t know.” 

“What do you mean ‘you don’t know’?” Tony asked in confusion.

“I mean that I didn’t see anyone of them so far. A strong magnetic field dragged me behind them through the Stars passage, then into this huge ship where they threw me in this room and-Shit!” he cut himself off by cursing loudly.

“What? What is it? Sammy?” Dean tensed in panic.

“Sam? What’s happening?” Natasha called anxiously.

“The door just opened. Apparently there was a door I didn’t notice until now. Someone is com-“ he gasped then they heard a loud bang. “Shit. Fuck, ow.”

“Sam?!” they all exclaimed nervously at Sam’s obvious pained shout.

“What is it? Sam?” Dean was standing up now, unable to stay still anymore.

“Nothing! Nothing! I am fine. The gravity came back suddenly and I slammed face first to the floor.” He coughed for a second before adding nervously. “The door is wide open now. There’s someone coming but- wait. That’s not-It’s not- God! Guys! They are not-“

A muted cracking sound came from the comms, before absolute silence following.

A silence that made them all stare at each other in panic.

“What happened? What did they do to him?” Natasha was on the verge of shouting in panic now.

Before anyone could answer, a mechanical voice sounded from the comms.

_“You are now in the presence of the Emperor. Leave your ship immediately.”_

“Those fucking bastards.” Dean growled in anger. “They are-“

“Those bastards are speaking English, did you notice that?” Tony observed with a frown.

“That’s right.” Steve grimaced at that. “This means they know a lot about us.”

With that, he stood up after pressing the button to open the shuttle’s door.

“Are we actually going to get out?” Castiel muttered as he stood up too anyway.

“If we stayed inside they will just destroy us, so what’s the point?” Steve answered as he went through the door. The others following his lead. 

“I swear they are going to pay for this.” Dean growled angrily as he trailed his fingers over the gun in his belt.

“What did they do to Sam? What have they done to him?” Natasha murmured in worry.

“If they wanted to kill him, they’d have done it from the start. He is going to be fine.” Castiel tried to reassure her and Dean calmly.

“Maybe they want a lab rat like us.” Tony muttered bitterly.

“It’s not time to make any assumptions or decisions yet.” Steve stated firmly.

“For who? Us or them?” Dean snarked in frustration.

“Both.” Steve answered as he stood in his full height in front of the shuttle. The others standing beside him, all raising their heads defiantly.

“I swear if they touched a hair on Sam’s head, they will pay dearly.” Dean muttered in anger.

After he said that, a bright light flashed suddenly on their faces, making them look away with pained grimaces.

“Great, now they are trying to blind us.” Tony groaned as he hid his face with his arm.

The mechanical voice sounded again louder this time from everywhere around them.

_“Kneel before the Emperor.” _

“What Emperor?” Dean shouted in frustration.

The lights went out suddenly, leaving them all in complete darkness.

“Woah, guys? The floor is moving underneath us. I think they are taking us somewhere else.” Tony announced nervously.

“Peachy.” Dean sighed in frustration. “Just peachy.”

“What is this Emperor they are talking about? What does he want from us? From Earth?” Castiel murmured in confusion as he tried to see through the complete darkness but weirdly he was failing.

“I don’t know, but something isn’t right.” Steve answered nervously, his whole body tensing. “Tony, suit up. We don’t know what we will face.”

Tony tapped the arc reactor without arguing and the suit immediately materialized around him in a few seconds making glow a little.

“Woah, what was that?” Dean whispered in awe as he poked Tony in the dark, feeling the armor around him. “This is awesome!”

“Its nanotech, wait till you see the suit, you will love it.” Tony’s proud grin was obvious even in the complete darkness, making everyone shake their heads a little.

Then the lights came back suddenly, that they had to close their eyes for a while to adjust to it.

When they opened them again, they just stared frozen at the scene in front of them, unable to believe it.

“Oh my God.” Natasha murmured in horrified awe.

The others just stared stupidly.

***

“You need to get some sleep.”

Erik demanded in frustration as he watched Charles with a disapproving concerned look on his face. “You didn’t get any sleep for the past three days. You will collapse, Charles.”

“It’s hard to collapse when you are already in a chair.” Charles retorted without looking up from the holoscreen in front of him that showed him what was happening around the world now.

“We agreed that you will never joke about this.” Erik’s disapproving voice held a hint of hurt in it now that made Charles look up at him guiltily.

“I’m sorry, love. I did not mean to hurt you.” Charles sighed tiredly as he looked apologetically up at his husband. “But I don’t think anyone would be able to sleep in this situation.”

“If the whole world stayed awake, you still need to sleep. You owe your team to stay sharp and alert. You can’t lead if you are tired. If you won’t do it for me, do it for them at least.” Erik urged a little desperately now, concern and worry itched on his face.

“Fear had spread all over the world. No news from Egypt and Japan, no one knows what is happening there anymore. People are hiding in their homes, like it was going to protect them from the invasion. Everyone is tense and on the verge of breaking down and those bastards are completely ignoring us. Did it not appear anywhere else for a while, like they were toying with our nerves. How can I leave all of this and sleep, Erik?” Charles stated in frustration, while pinching the bridge of his nose in exhaustion.

“You can’t do anything about this for now.” Erik said gently as he walked closer to Charles and kneeled in front of him on the floor and took his hand gently in his. “All we are doing right now, is waiting for them to make the next move. We can wait without you destroying your own mind from lack of sleep. It is your duty towards your team, Sweetheart.”

“Yes, the team that I lost one of them from the very first day.” Charles retorted bitterly and looked away.

“It wasn’t your fault, Charles. No one is blaming you. They are all still have a deep respect for you.” Erik grabbed his chin gently to make him look at his eyes. “You will always have my respect and love, Schatz.”

“I am not sure I deserve any of them right now.” Charles murmured sadly as he looked down at his husband.

“Charles, I told you, no one is-“

He was cut off when they heard The Noise again, making them both tense.

That means there was another attack.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry...

They all just stared at the scene in front of them for a whole minute.

They couldn’t be blamed really. From the moment they heard the phrase ‘Kneel before the Emperor.’ They imagined the said Emperor in different ways. Maybe a green alien with red eyes, or lizard like body. Maybe even human shaped with blue or red skin, hell or even pink.

But they certainly didn’t imagine _this_.

In front of them, there was a huge throne floating in the air about three meters high and two meters width, and what was sitting on it wasn’t human.

Or an alien.

It wasn’t even alive.

It was a robot.

A huge robot that was eight feet high, its metal head had one big eye that was moving over them, scanning them.

Its body was human like. He almost looked like Iron Man but was larger, thicker and seemed to be made of a foreign metal, even Tony couldn’t recognize.

In other words, it was terrifying to know that the leader of the invaders wasn’t even a living creature.

_“Kneel before the Emperor.” _

The metallic voice sounded again around them.

“We don’t kneel in front of anyone.” Steve said in a strong voice as he stared at the Emperor defiantly.

_“Kneel before the Emperor.” _

The voice repeated, like they didn’t care about what Steve just said.

“Didn’t you hear, asshole? We kneel for no one, especially in front of a pile of junk like that.” Dean snapped angrily as he placed his hand on his gun anxiously.

_“Kneel before the Emperor.” _

They exchanged frustrated looks, before Castiel faced the Emperor and said sternly “No, we will not.”

A loud roaring voice sounded in the large room, coming from the Emperor. Then two small doors opened on both sides of the throne, from it appeared small bodies that looked like oversized mosquitos and headed towards the team to surround them with their metallic wings ruffling and needles coming out of their heads, ready to pierce it into the closest body.

_“Kneel before the Emperor.”_

They were trying to pressure and intimidate them.

They froze for a second.

“You can all go to hell.” Dean growled before pulling his two guns and shot at the robotic mosquitos.

Immediately, Natasha followed his lead and pulled out her own guns, Tony let his helmet cover his head as he started to blast at the robots with his repulsors, Steve used his shield to keep the mosquitos away and Castiel started blasting them with his grace.

They worked together perfectly, Tony shooting at Steve’s shield so he could reflect the beam to destroy the robots. Dean and Castiel pressed their backs against each other as they moved around to protect each other and everyone, Natasha covering their backs.

They destroyed hundreds of those mosquitos fast and efficiently, with each robot destroyed, a sticky blue substances was splattered on their faces and bodies coming from the small robots.

But with each mosquito destroyed, two more appeared in its place from the two small doors on the sides of the throne.

Meanwhile, the huge metal Emperor stayed on its throne, just watching them with its one eye, like it was studying their movements and reactions.

The mosquitos just kept coming endlessly and it was becoming obvious that it was impossible to win this fight.

“Fall back! We need to go back to the shuttle.” Steve exclaimed, never stopping in fighting.

“How? We don’t know where it is!” Tony shouted back in frustration.

“Let’s just try and get out of here!” Dean yelled as he kept shooting and tried to retreat back with the others towards the moving path they were on.

Then suddenly, the lights went out leaving them in complete darkness.

The only light left was from Tony’s arc reactor, repulsors and Castiel’s grace.

“Fuck! Fucking fuck!” Dean yelled, as he never stopped shooting whenever he heard the sound of the mosquitos’ wings close to him.

“Don’t stop fighting!” Steve shouted as he tried to preach the darkness with his eyes, while using his other senses to fight the robots.

“We might hurt one of us if we fought blindly.” Natasha stated nervously, as she kept shooting nonetheless.

The ground moved under them again in the opposite direction, the robots never relented, while they tried to fight without hurting each other.

The lights came back then, and they realized that they were back in the same huge room where their shuttle was.

“Go! To the shuttle, come on!” Steve ordered as he tried to cover them as they all rushed towards their shuttle.

“But the engines are still not working.” Tony stated as he rushed towards it anyway.

“At least we can take cover inside it.” Dean grounded out as he kept shooting. “We will never be able to-“ he finished his sentence with a pained scream as a mosquito managed to pierce his arm with its needle and blood flowed down his arm. “You son of a bitch!”

“Dean!” Castiel screamed as he rushed to him, while Tony and Steve moved to cover both of them as they retreated towards the shuttle as fast as they could.

“They are increasing very fast. We won’t be able to hold on for long.” Dean muttered as he kept shooting with his other hand as Castiel pushed him inside the shuttle, while Natasha pulled him inside.

“Do you think the engines will work?” Tony asked as he jumped after Dean and Castiel inside.

“I hope so.” Steve answered as he followed them inside and shutting the door behind him.

He then jumped on the pilot seat and tried to start the shuttle, which started smoothly immediately and strongly. “It’s working!”

“Wait! What about Sam?” Dean yelled in panic, while Castiel was trying to heal his arm.

“We are not leaving him here!” Natasha exclaimed frantically.

“JARVIS, search for Sam in this fucking place.” Tony called out as he let the helmet dissolve from around his head.

“Found him.” Castiel announced with a very pale face as he stared straight ahead.

Their eyes followed where he was looking, only to see Sam standing in the middle of the large room, looking confused and panicked as the robotic mosquitos turned to attack him.

“No! No, Sam!” Natasha screamed in terror.

“Sammy!” Dean shouted as he, Steve and Castiel rushed towards the shuttle’s door, Tony stood frozen with Natasha in pure terror and panic.

Sam pulled out his guns and started to shoot at the robots, but they were too much for him to fend off on his own and they started to pierce their needles into him viciously.

His pained, panicked screams reached them, mixed with their own panicked shouts as they tried to open the door.

“The door won’t open.” Tony whispered with a pale face as he stared at the scene helplessly. “The engines are on, which means it is impossible to open the door.”

They turned to him with wide horrified eyes.

“What are you saying? Are we going to just watch as they murder him?!” Castiel yelled in terror.

“Open the door! Do anything! Open the damn door, my brother is being ripped apart out there! Open the door!” Dean was screaming desperately as he kept pushing and pulling at the door, Steve looked dazed as he stood there helplessly, realizing that Tony was right.

“I can’t. Dean, I can’t.” Tony murmured as tears started to fall down his face.

“Sam! No!” Natasha screamed in pure pain and horror as Sam fell on the floor and the mosquitos started to rip him apart viciously and mercilessly.

In front of his family.

In front of his brother, his fiancée, his brother in-law and his two friends.

Dean collapsed on the floor with tears falling from his eyes, and grabbed his head with his hands tightly as he kept screaming in pure pain and agony. Castiel collapsed next to him and wrapped his arm tightly around him as tears covered his own face bitterly, but kept his breakdown on hold as he focused on Dean. Natasha was gaping in shock as the tears froze in her eyes, unable to believe what just happened, unable to comprehend. Tony was on his knees, staring straight ahead, looking defeated, and didn’t try to wipe the tears that kept falling from his eyes.

Steve was frozen. His face was red from anger, pain and bitterness as he stood frozen like a marble statue unable to think, to feel, to understand, before moving mechanically towards the pilot seat and set on it to pull on his belt.

“Buckle up. We will get out of here.” He ordered in a hollow voice with unblinking eyes that were just staring straight ahead.

Tony turned towards him indignantly, before seeing the complete shutdown state he was in, that made him get up and move Natasha gently towards her seat, then walking towards Dean and Castiel, the former had stopped screaming but now he was shaking uncontrollably in Castiel’s arms with wide disbelieving eyes, he helped Castiel in pulling Dean up gently to set him on the co-pilot seat and buckled him up. They both went back to their seats silently, throwing a look towards Sam’s empty seat and their tears were back on full force.

At the same time, the mosquitos separated from Sam’s torn apart body and attacked the shuttle viciously.

Steve raised the shuttle from the ground and sped down the long path they came through, while the mosquitos followed right behind them.

“Tony, the frequency. Now. We need to get out of here.” Steve called out firmly as he went faster and faster.

“Alright.” Tony murmured from between his tears as he looked down towards his tablet to work fast, while trying to remove Sam’s horrible death from his vision.

When Steve reached the end of the path and to the space, Tony managed to get the frequency.

“I got it.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Steve exclaimed as he watched the battleships starting to follow them.

“Alright.” He murmured again, as he pressed the last button at the same moment the battleships attacked them.

The shuttle jolts violently, then jumped through the Stars Passage.

The jump was violent this time that they felt their bodies shake hard from the coldness they felt, before they found themselves in the neutral point they had been before.

Only then, did Steve finally allowed his tears to fall as a small sob escaped him involuntarily. He knew this was a suicide mission, but he never imagined he will lose one of his friends in this horrible way.

He couldn’t imagine what the others were feeling. It was quite a painful hit to all of them and left them shaken and pained.

He trailed his eyes towards Dean and felt his heart break even more. The eldest Winchester was just staring straight ahead, he did not bother to wipe away his tears, his face was broken from grief and anger, his fists clinched hard in his lap like he was physically trying to rein himself in from breaking down.

It was his brother. They only had each other probably for their entire lives. Steve couldn’t imagine the pain Dean was in. Sam was his friend and Steve was on the verge of breaking down. It was ten times worse for Dean.

Castiel wasn’t in a better shape as Steve turned to him. A look of pure pain and rage was itched on his face that shook Steve from inside. A look so dark he never once saw on the angel’s face. A look that scared Steve himself from its intensity.

Tony was just letting his tears fall down his face bitterly. He kept clawing at his chest, like he was trying to fend off a panic attack as much as he could, and Steve wasn’t even sure if he could help him through it without having an attack of his own with him.

Natasha-well Natasha was frozen. She only stared down at the ring in her finger brokenly. They never saw her this broken before. Sam was the first one she ever loved.

Steve let out a pained voice, they were supposed to get married in a few months, have children and live long enough to see their grandchildren becoming Avengers.

When did everything go so _wrong_?

“We need to go back home.” Steve murmured quietly without really looking at anyone. “With all the information we managed to get.”

“The information that came with a great cost.” Castiel muttered bitterly as he looked away.

Steve turned to start the shuttle with a heavy heart.

But the shuttle jolted hard then stopped completely, and just started to float aimlessly through the endless space, light years away from home.

***

“It was a false alarm.”

Thor announced in anger as he entered the room where the team had gathered.

“What the hell are they doing to us?” Bucky muttered angrily. “We heard The Noise loudly and violently that we thought the invasion begun, but then nothing fucking happened!”

“They are toying with us.” Charles said grimly making everyone turn to him. “False alarms, one after the other, that by the time the true hit comes, we would be on the verge of breaking down emotionally.”

“Didn’t you guys realize that they are fighting by killing our spirits instead of actually facing us?” Charlie stated with furrowed brows.

“Maybe because they have nothing else?” Erik said while looking deep in thought.

“You really think that?” Logan asked in confusion.

“It is possible. Technically, it is strategically brilliant to destroy the fighting spirit in the enemy before attacking directly, and whenever you realize how weak your forces are in compare with the enemy, you focus more on the psychological war. You notice how hard they are trying to do that with us? To destroy the spirits of anyone who’d dare to resist them, which means that they think a direct attack is not a sure win.”

“After what they did with our fleet and Rhodey? And what happened in Japan and Egypt?” Wilson asked in surprise.

“Japan and Egypt surrendered without resistance. Our fleet and us didn’t really know what we were dealing with and we weren’t prepared, that’s why we lost the first battle with great cost, but now it’s different.”

“So you think we actually have a chance to win this?” Bruce asked hopefully.

“Pretty much. Yes.” Erik answered strongly.

“Wow, Erik actually managing to raise hope inside us.” Charles smiled up at him fondly. “I must have rubbed off on you.”

“You ought to, after spending all of this years with you.” Erik murmured as he looked down at him affectionately.

Before Charles could answer, another Noise started, making all of them freeze as Thor started to groan in pain.

“Is this another false alarm?” Raven murmured nervously.

“I don’t know. This time it seems like it was very close.” Bruce answered anxiously. “Like it was coming from right outside our window.” 

They all turned towards the window subconsciously, waiting, with their bodies tensed.

“I don’t like this silence.” Clint muttered as the silence stretched on with nothing happening.

Erik suddenly tensed with wide eyes and rushed to cover Charles while shouting: “Everyone take cover! Now!”

The moment he said that, three battleships appeared at their window and, without firing a single laser beam at them, threw their metal bodies at the windows boldly and determinedly.

The explosion sounded through all of Manhattan, as half The Avengers Tower exploded violently from the impact.

With the team inside.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things will get better! Just...not now.

“Are we done for?”

Castiel asked quietly, almost sounding like he didn’t care about their situation anyway.

“Don’t lose hope yet.” Steve said firmly with a shake of his head. “The engines stopped for some reason. The shuttle’s computer will tell us what the problem is any minute now.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Dean murmured dazedly as tears ran down his face again. “They killed Sammy. Nothing matters anymore.”

That made all of them fall silent as they watched him sadly with their own grief weighting down on them. Castiel unbuckled his belt to stand beside Dean and pull him gently into his arms. The hunter went willingly as he clutched to Castiel and let his tears fall freely.

Tony and Steve glanced over at Natasha, who was hunched on herself, not talking or even crying. Just staring down at the ring Sam gave her, eyes wide and dazed, like she couldn’t believe what happened earlier.

Tony made a move to go over to her, but Steve placed a gentle hand over his and shook his head at him.

“Leave her be. She won’t appreciate it right now.” Steve murmured quietly as he threw a sad look over at Natasha.

Tony slumped back in his chair with a sigh. “You know we could’ve suffered the same fate as Sam if those battleships had followed us, right?”

That made Steve’s brow furrow as he sat back in his chair and threw a glance at Castiel, who was looking back at him with the same look.

“What?” Tony asked as he trailed his eyes between them both in confusion.

“Why didn’t they follow us here?” Castiel asked, looking deep in thought.

“Maybe they thought we jumped straight to our world?” Steve suggested but didn’t seem convinced much by that suggestion.

“That’s impossible. Our shuttle can analyze the needed frequency and pinpoint the possible path through the Stars Passage, and they know about that path for sure every time they jump into our world, which makes easy and direct for them.” Tony explained quietly as he too tried to think about an explanation.

“Maybe they are waiting for fucking orders from their piece of junk of an Emperor or something.” Dean murmured bitterly, his head still resting on Castiel’s chest as the angel tightened his arms around him.

“What orders? We managed to escape them. The logical next move is to follow us.” Steve said in confusion.

A loud noise coming from the shuttle’s computers, making them turn to it to see what problem it found in the shuttle.

“The main fuel is out? But that’s impossible.” Tony muttered in surprise.

“Maybe jumping in the Stars Passage takes a lot of power.” Steve suggested carefully.

“But how did it not find out earlier? Or rather, why did it take all this time to find this issue? It is supposed to be a basic issue.”

“Maybe it is malfunctioning, I don’t know.” Dean murmured quietly.

“Why? What caused the malfunction?”

They all exchanged confused looks, not able to find a convincing answer.

Steve just sighed and switched the engines to the spare fuel tank.

The engines finally came back to life.

“Let’s just go home. Hopefully we will find a way to deal with all of this.” Steve stated with a sigh as he readied the shuttle to jump through the Stars Passage to go home.

The only thing that didn’t occur to him or the others, that home is no longer the same home they left for their mission.

Home became something different.

It became ruins.

***

Pain.

That was probably the only word Charles can really relate to right now.

Every single part of his body was screaming in pain. He was sure he felt pain even in the parts he could no longer feel.

The last thing he remembered was the Noise, then Erik yelling and jumping to cover him.

Then the explosion of three battleships crashing through the windows.

That explained the pain, at least. He couldn’t complain really, if it wasn’t for Erik, he might have been in worse condition. Erik was always aware of their surrounding environment. Always aware of any approaching danger, even with his telepathy, Erik was always more vigilant than him.

He tried to open his eyes and reach out with his mind to check on the others.

He immediately regretted doing that. He felt a different kind of pain in his heart and an inability to take in a full breath.

Because he can only feel a handful of minds from his team that were alive. Many of them he will never feel again.

He let out a pained sob as he tried to push at the weight pressing him down to see. He must be wrong. It must be.

Erik pushed himself up to his elbows with a pained grunt, and looked down at Charles who was under him. Erik covered him from the explosion with his own body.

He looked up at Erik, while the latter was raking his eyes all over Charles’ body, checking for injuries and ignoring his own.

His husband looked horrible. His face was bloody and dirty, a pained look itched on his face from obviously many injuries in his body.

Charles felt tears falling down his face as he trailed his shaking hand along Erik’s cheek, a deep pain filling him to the brim.

Those invaders gave them a very hard hit. Charles wasn’t sure they will ever be able to come back from that.

“Erik, the team. Hank and-and Raven, they’re-they’re-“ he couldn’t say it. He couldn’t say those words. His voice trailed off into a sob.

“Shh, I know.” Erik murmured and pressed a kiss to his forehead, his own tears falling on Charles’ face. “I know, sweetheart. They will pay for that. I promise you.”

Charles clutched to Erik as his whole body shook with grief. Four were gone. Four from his family are dead in this very room.

“No! No, no, that’s not happening, no!” Bucky’s agonized scream echoed through the destroyed room. Charles looked over and his heart was shattered at the sight. Bucky was clutching Wilson’s lifeless body into his chest tightly and was sobbing hard. “No, don’t do this. Don’t. We didn’t get enough time, please.”

Charles was crying along with him as he felt the amount of pain coming from him. The grief, the shock, everything. In great detail.

They felt movement from beside them, only to see the hulked out Bruce, who was covering both Thor and Clint with his body, he transformed back to Bruce only to pass out from how hard the explosion was. Thor caught him before hitting the ground, then got up with him in his arms and looked around with a pained look at their destroyed home. Clint was up on his feet and rushed around to check on the others. From far back in the room, Charles could see Logan back on his feet, all his injuries and burns were healing away. 

Clint knelt down beside Charlie, only to take a sharp intake of breath as he checked her nonexistent pulse.

“Guys, we-we lost Charlie.” Clint announced with a choked voice, tears already falling on his face.

“Raven and Hank too, I am afraid.” Logan stated with a deep pained look on his face, as he looked down at his dead friends.

The words made Charles cry harder as he clutched tightly to Erik, who was still not able to get up on his feet, but managed to gather Charles tenderly in his arms and murmured reassuringly to him, even with his own tears falling.

This was unbearable. In less than a week, he lost so much. Lost many of his friends that he considered family. Lost his sister. His sister who didn’t get a chance to fully be with her lover, who was also killed right along with her. She didn’t get a chance to be happy. Wilson and Bucky didn’t get a chance to be happy either.

This wasn’t fair.

Hell, he probably lost Tony, Steve, Natasha and The Winchesters as well. He lost any hope of them ever coming back.

He lost hope in everything.

They can’t win this. Those fuckers broke them. 

“Don’t say that.” Erik murmured as he heard what Charles was thinking. He must have projected accidently. He finally managed to get up to his feet with a pained grunt, then leaned down to pull Charles into his arms, despite his obvious weakness. “Don’t ever say that. They will pay for this. They will pay for every loss we endured.”

“What-what are we going to do now?” Clint asked looking lost and pained as he tried to coax Bucky into his feet as he still clutched Wilson’s body to him. “We lost our home. Lost half our family. We probably lost the other half of our family already in that fucking mission they went on. What the hell are we going to do now?”

“That was a hard hit.” Thor murmured in grief. “A hit we will never be able to come back from.”

Erik was about to say something, but suddenly froze and turned sharply towards the large battleship that crashed in the room with wide eyes.

“They are coming out of their ships.” He announced with wide eyes, making everyone turn to him in panic. “They are coming out to finish the job.” 

“We are in no shape to fight! We will lose.” Clint tensed frantically.

Everyone in the room was tensed and frantic, while Charles just stared at Erik’s face intently.

Because Erik had the expression on his face that he always had before doing something stupid.

And Charles was terrified when he immediately knew what Erik was about to do.

“No. Erik, No! Don’t!” Charles shook his head shakily at Erik, tears already started to fall again on his face and his body shook in pain of what was about to happen.

Erik looked down at him sadly as he held him tightly in his arms, and pressed a wet kiss to his forehead as he let his tears fall.

“I’m sorry, Charles. I have to do it. I have to keep you safe. I have to, Sweetheart.” Erik murmured wetly into his hair as pain filled his voice.

“I don’t want to be safe! I want you bloody alive!” Charles shouted at him desperately.

Erik just shook his head sadly at him and looked up at the others. “Go. All of you. Leave the tower and hide underground. Anywhere not seen. I will hold them off. Just go.”

“What? We are not leaving you here!” Clint objected indignantly.

“You can hold them off from outside the tower with us. You don’t have to stay behind.” Thor argued desperately.

“They will follow us and will know where we will go. I will attract their attention until you are gone.” They were about to argue again but Erik cut them off firmly. “I am your leader and this is an order. I am telling you to get out of here now. We might be the Earth’s only hope. Don’t get all of us killed. So, go. Now.”

They looked at him pained, not able to argue and not able to do it.

“At least let me be here too. I can help.” Logan moved towards him desperately.

“No, you have another mission.” He shoved a protesting Charles into a stunned Logan’s arms. “Get him out of here. Keep him safe.”

“No! Erik, No! Don’t do this! Please, I can’t lose you too, please.” Charles thrashed in Logan’s arms as he reached towards Erik desperately. “Please, you said you won’t leave again. You promised, you bloody fucker! You promised!”

Erik’s face was pure agony as he looked down at Charles’ desperate face. “I am sorry, Liebling.” He murmured as he leaned over to press one last kiss to Charles’ lips. “I have to keep you safe. I have to.” He cupped Charles’ face as he smiled sadly down at him.

_“Thank you. For everything. You gave me a home, Charles. You gave me everything, even though I didn’t deserve it.”_ he projected his thoughts to him as looked into Charles’ pained desperate eyes. _“I love you, Charles. Don’t ever forget that.” _

With that he straightened up and gestured to the pained Logan to go. “Go. Everyone, now. They are coming.”

“No, Logan, stop! I am not leaving him! Erik!” Charles kept screaming as Logan carried him out of the room, even while he was thrashing desperately in his arms. The others looked at Erik sadly, before following Logan.

“I can’t just leave him.” Bucky murmured in pain as he looked down at Wilson. “I can’t.”

“I am sorry, Buck. We have to.” Clint murmured as he dragged Bucky with all he had out of the room.

Even when they left the room, Erik could still hear Charles screaming for him in his mind. Each scream felt like a stab into Erik’s heart.

He had no other choice. He had to keep him safe.

From behind him, he could hear the battleships opening. He turned to see dozens of spider like robots coming out of them and moving towards him slowly. With a heavy heart, he realized that those invaders learned about his powers.

Because even though they were robots, they barely had any magnetic metal in them that Erik could control.

Which left Erik with one choice only.

_‘I’m sorry, Charles.’ _he sent painfully as he faced the robots defiantly, already starting to use his powers.

“You can break my soul.” He said in a strong voice as he stared them down. “Take my life away. Beat me. Hurt me. Kill me. But for the love of God, you will _not_ touch _him_.” He screamed as he used all his power before they reached him.

From outside the tower, the team watched with terrified eyes as the Tower collapsed down on itself by Erik’s powers, taking all the invaders down with it.

Taking the invaders and Erik with it. Leaving only ruins and Charles’ shattered, grieving heart behind.


	13. Chapter 13

Steve landed the shuttle carefully on the roof of SHIELD’s headquarters.

When they stepped out with grieving faces, they were met with Fury’s own pale face.

Fury trailed his eyes over them, noticing their missing teammate and didn’t comment on it after Steve’s warning look.

“Welcome back. We almost lost hope of your return.” Fury welcomed them with a genuine relieved look on his face. “I hope you got what you left for.”

“Yeah, wish we didn’t.” Tony murmured sadly as he started to make his way past Fury. “We need to go home and tell the rest of the team of what we found.”

Fury stopped him by a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back, much to everyone’s confusion.

“Sorry, Stark. You can’t do that.” Fury stated quietly with a pained look on his face.

“What do you mean I can’t? We need to go home now.” Tony protested as he pulled away from Fury in agitation. “Are you going to say what we risked our lives for is classified or somet-“

“Home is no longer there, Stark.” Fury cut him off sadly, making him stop and stare at him.

“What do you mean by that?” Dean demanded as he stared at Fury angrily.

“What are you not telling us?” Steve asked firmly as he stepped closer to him, a worried look on his face.

“Yeah, and also, Rhodey supposed to be here too. He said he will, since this mission concerned the Air Force as well. Where’s he?” Tony demanded as his body became tense.

Castiel and Natasha watched with bounding hearts as Fury’s face was a picture of pure pain and grief.

“A lot of things happened since you left.” He started carefully and sadly. “There-there were several attacks on New York. The first attack cost us Colonel Rhodes, I am afraid.”

His words felt like lightening hit them at that moment as they stared at him in disbelieve.

“No. No, what did you just say? That-that can’t be right.” Tony shook his head as he took a step back, while staring at Fury with wide eyes.

“I am sorry, Stark.” Fury murmured sadly.

“Why are you saying that? Rhodey-Rhodey isn’t fucking dead, he can’t be!” Tony just kept shaking his head sharply, Steve stepped forward and pulled Tony in his arms with his own pained look on his face, while Tony just kept denying it.

“What-what did you mean by home is longer there?” Dean asked shakily as he moved closer to Castiel, seeking his comfort. “What else happened?”

Fury looked away at that. “In the last attack, they attacked the Tower directly while the team was inside. Three explosion’s destroyed half the building and-and half your team. Lehnsherr managed to get the survivors out, before he-he gave his life by making the building fall over the invaders’ heads and his own.” Fury met their wide eyes then with his watery one. “I am so sorry for your losses.”

They stared at him in shock, unable to comprehend what he just said. Didn’t want to understand it, or even imagine it.

“What did you just say?” Natasha said in a choked voice, unable to understand.

“Erik is-Erik is dead?” Castiel murmured as he shared a wide eyed look with Dean, who was staring back at him dazedly.

“I-I need to sit down.” Tony whispered as he weakly dropped to the floor, shaking fingers pressed to his chest and seemed to be struggling to take a deep breath. Steve dropped to his knees next to him, still in shock, but that didn’t stop him from pulling the panicking Tony into his arms.

“Who-who had-you know.” Steve tried to ask but couldn’t say the words, but Fury understood his question anyway. He didn’t really want to know the answer, but the question must be asked by someone.

“Wilson, Bradbury, McCoy and Xavier’s sister.” Fury answered quietly.

“Wait, Raven? No, that can’t be right. That didn’t happen. How did you let this happen?” Tony practically screamed at Fury’s face and was trying to reach him, but Steve held him back with tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Bradbury? Charlie was there?!” Dean went completely tense at that. “What the hell were she doing there? She wasn’t supposed to be there! You got her killed!”

“Everyone that was in the tower then, were there on their own free will. No one forced them to be there.” Fury stated as he kept sending sad looks at them as their grief just increased in every passing second. “I am sorry.”

“Where is the rest of the team?” Steve questioned without looking at Fury and just focused on Tony, who was trying desperately to get a grip on his scattering emotions.

“In underground safe room under this building. Safe.” Fury answered calmly.

“Take us to them.”

***

Well, the reunion was-heartbreaking to say the least.

The team was in a terrible shape when they entered the room. Every single one of the survived Avengers was a complete rick. Bucky was grieving for his lost lover and just grabbed Steve the moment he saw him and cried, that was the first time Steve ever saw him cry that hard, so he just let him and held him as he grieved. The news of Sam’s fate broke the rest of the team even more, as Clint took Natasha in his arms with tears falling heavily from his eyes, she went willingly as the mask she kept firmly in place fell and let herself finally grief for her lost fiancé and just cried. Thor pulled both Castiel and Dean tightly into a hug both in relief and sadness, while Bruce watched them in complete sadness. Strangely, the demigod’s hug was what they both needed after everything that happened and hugged him back just as tightly, they needed the family comfort right now more than anything. Logan watched everything from a corner sadly, unable to even try and comfort anyone really.

Charles was-Charles was broken. There was no other word fit enough to describe his state other than this. He was in a regular wheelchair, his head thrown back at the headrest and was just staring at the distance. No emotion on his face, no light in his eyes. Just nothing. Not even tears in his eyes. If it wasn’t for the rising and falling of his chest, you’d say he was dead.

Tony couldn’t possibly imagine what Charles was going through. If he was in his situation he wouldn’t have survived. Tony knew that fact and accept it. He will not live a day over Steve. He will not live in a world that have no Steve. Just the thought alone could kill him. 

Charles was going through Tony’s worst nightmare. There was nothing that he could do that will make his childhood friend feel remotely better in his broken state.

So, he just leaned down and hugged him tightly, letting his own tears fall. Even with all the mistakes Erik did in his life, he did one thing perfectly; he protected Charles until his very last moment. He loved him enough to die for him. Tony hated himself for the years he wasted hating the man’s guts.

Erik Lehnsherr had one job, and he did it perfectly.

Charles didn’t hug him back, but he rested his head against Tony’s shoulder with a deep pained look on his face.

Charles that was so full of life and hope, now broken, pained and defeated. A shell of the man Tony left behind a few days ago.

Those fucking bastards are going to pay for this. Pay for what they did to Charles, to Rhodey, to Sam, to every single one of his family.

They will fucking pay.

After a huge amount of hugs everywhere combined by grieving tears, they sat down, trying to think about what the hell they are going to do now.

They sat in silence for almost a whole hour. No one really knows what to say. Tony sat close to the unresponsive Charles, Steve beside him, gripping Tony’s hand tightly in his like a lifeline, it kept the both of them sane. Castiel and Dean sat with no inches between them, touching from shoulders to feet, like they were trying to absorb any amount of comfort they could get from each other. Dean looked terrible, like he suddenly gotten ten years older, every part of his face was contorted in pain and grief. Castiel didn’t look much better. The angel looked exhausted and helpless but trying hard to look strong enough for Dean’s sake.

The rest of the team was pretty much in the same state. Natasha pressed herself between Dean and Clint, like she was seeking comfort from both of them, her mask back firmly on her face. Bucky was just staring down at his lap in defeat, Thor and Bruce leaning against each other sadly and tiredly, Logan wasn’t really looking at anyone.

Charles hadn’t uttered a word to anyone. They say he was in this state from the moment the tower went down with Erik inside. Hadn’t spoken, hadn’t eaten or even moved a muscle. Just the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

He might as well had died along with Erik in that tower.

“So, our mission was totally useless.” Dean broke the silence bitterly, not really looking at anyone. “We lost Sam for nothing.”

“The mission wasn’t useless, you came back with a lot of valuable information.” Bruce objected quietly. “A terrifying information, but information nonetheless.”

“What’s the point? We can’t possibly face that.”

“That doesn’t mean we will just give up and surrender.” Steve said in determination as he raised his eyes and trailed it over everyone. “Even if we all died fighting.”

“According to what those bastards did so far, that is probably what will happen.” Clint commented bitterly.

“And we will follow our fallen.” Thor murmured sadly.

Before Steve could say anything else, the Noise sounded in the room, this time was stronger than ever, that Steve, Castiel and Thor dropped to the floor and screaming in utter pain that made their lovers panic, as they kneeled next to them, trying helplessly to ease their pain.

“Cover their ears or something! Anything!” Bucky exclaimed frantically as the others rushed to try to do anything.

“I am covering his ears! It’s not working!” Dean yelled back as he gripped Castiel’s head in his hands tightly as he tried to shield his ears from the Noise.

“What the hell is happening? Why is that fucking Noise so strong this time?” Tony yelled frantically as he tried to follow Dean’s lead in covering Steve’s ears, but it didn’t seem to work as his husband still screamed in pain the longer the Noise continued.

Fury rushed into the room with a pale face, which made everyone tense as they stared up at him.

“What now?” Tony asked nervously.

“The invaders. They appeared all over America, covering the skies. The invasion had begun.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am pretty sure I am your least favourite person by now....

It was a disaster.

Thousands and thousands of battleships attacked America viciously and mercilessly.

The Air Force fought back with everything they got and managed to bring down dozens of them.

But with every ship that falls, ten takes its place.

Many people had fallen as they fought back.

Weirdly enough, the invaders weren’t as invincible as they seemed.

Their ships fell like flies too, but their numbers were huge.

Numbers overcame courage.

And destroys it completely.

In the matter of an hour, the invaders lost two hundred ships, but Earth lost a thousand.

Every ten battleships attacks one fighter jet without mercy.

Old men, women and children hid in nuclear bunkers, scared and terrified.

It was a nightmare.

***

“They are destroying everything that comes in their way, like they were heartless bastards!” Clint exclaimed as they saw what was happening around in the underground hideout in SHIELD.

“Their Emperor is a piece of metallic junk, what do you expect?” Natasha stated bitterly.

“What? Are we going to just hide here and watch? No, that’s not happening!” Dean yelled in anger as he stood up and pulled out his gun. “I will get out there and face those bastards. They have to pay for everything they did. For all our losses.”

“Yeah, we can’t just sit here and do nothing. We need to go out there!” Tony agreed as he too stood up, anger coming off of him in waves.

“That’s exactly what they want us to do.” Steve said firmly as he turned to them. “To lose our heads and just storm out to fight, only so they could snuff us all out one by one mercilessly. We can’t win this like that. We will be like a bunch of ants getting crushed by a boot. We can’t give them this chance. You want to avenge everyone? Then we need a plan, and not just rush out there aimlessly.”

“They might have won their first battle.” Castiel added firmly. “But that doesn’t mean they won the war. We faced worse before and won. We can do it again.”

They exchanged tensed looks, before they all nodded in determination.

“Yeah, we can do it again.” Clint nodded fiercely.

“They moved on to ground control phase.” Fury announced with a pale face as he pointed at the screen.

They all turned to see a huge battleship that looked like a giant Scarab, which landed in the middle of a square, surrounded by the other battleships.

A side door opened slowly and lowered until it reached the ground. Through that door, marched out huge metallic bodies that looked like enormous spiders and spread out everywhere, heading towards the nuclear bunkers, like they knew their locations from before.

“No! They will attack unarmed senior citizens, women and children!” Thor exclaimed in panic.

Before anyone could do anything, one of the spiders shot the bunker, with the explosion, the screen blacked out after the camera was destroyed.

“Oh, God.” Bruce murmured with a very pale face.

“What the hell is this? We faced alien invaders before, but even with how brutal and vicious they were, they never reached this far! They didn’t crush everything that comes in their way like that!” Tony ranted angrily and bitterly as he felt completely helpless.

“Maybe because they were actually a living creatures.” Castiel commented with furrowed brows, making everyone turn to him in question.

“What do you mean?” Steve asked in confusion.

Castiel frowned as he thought about everything that happened so far, without answering.

“Cas, what do you mean?” Bucky insisted as he asked Steve’s question again.

He turned to them, about to tell them what he thought but the whole building shook violently then, with loud alarms sounding everywhere.

“Son of a bitch, they are attacking us!” Fury exclaimed as he watched from another screen hundreds of battleships attacking the building. 

“How the hell did they find us?” Dean exclaimed in panic.

“Quick, everyone! We need to get out of here!” Steve exclaimed as he pushed everyone in front of him to move, Tony rushed towards the unresponsive Charles and grabbed his chair to pull him out of the room, as Steve pushed at him to hurry up.

This time, the hundred battleships didn’t waste any time. They all crashed into the building at the same time, causing a huge explosion that shook the entire area as the building collapsed on itself from the impact.

Violently killing almost everyone inside it.

***

This time when the time ship jolted even harder, Castiel was sure that something was definitely wrong.

There shouldn’t be these harsh jolts.

Even the time jump took way too long to be normal.

Or that’s what Castiel felt anyway as he sat in his seat in a trance like state, all his limps cold and frozen in place.

From what he remembered of time travel, that wasn’t normal.

He and Dean were still in the suits Tony had made them what felt like forever ago, that was supposed to make the time jump a little more comfortable since their bodies are protected.

So this isn’t normal.

He can’t get up. Can’t carry on.

All he noticed that the time pointer thing in the controllers is malfunctioning.

It is not moving slowly like before.

In fact, it wasn’t pointing at anything anymore.

What did this mean?

He didn’t understand a thing of how this ship worked.

Tony should have been the one to be with Dean right now. Not him. Tony would have known what to do.

His memories went back when SHIELD’s headquarters collapsed on top of their heads. He remembered his wings coming out, shielding Dean and Natasha.

He remembered the number of their surviving team reducing even more.

He remembered everything in vivid detail.

***

_Two days ago._

Tony slowly opened his eyes when he felt the disaster around him calm down a little.

For a moment, he felt his mind blanking. Unable to remember anything after the building collapsed on them. Then he felt the strong arms that were wrapped tightly around his body with something shielding his head from everything.

Apparently literally, as he opened his eyes and saw Steve wrapped around him tightly with his shield placed on top of both their heads, which protected the both of them from being crushed.

Tony felt a shudder run through his body as he looked up at Steve in awe, the man was shielding him completely, like he was the most precious thing in the world and needs to be protected at all costs, which was probably what Steve was exactly thinking.

The soldier pulled away a little to look at Tony. The genius’ heart ached at the amount of bruises and scratched that covered Steve’s face, along with a bloody line at the side of his face. He could feel some bruises in his own body as well, but he suspected that Steve made sure for it to be as minimal as possible.

They both stared at each other in a daze, unable to believe what just happened. Unable to comprehend the ruins they were surrounded by. Unable to look at the bodies scattered around them.

Steve’s eyes raked all over Tony’s body, checking for any visible injury, before raising his eyes to trail it around the room.

Or what’s left of it anyway.

“Guys? Please tell me you are still there.” Steve called shakily as both their eyes trailed around the destroyed area around them, searching for their family.

Tony’s heart banged loudly in his chest in fear and he could feel Steve’s equally erratic heartbeats from his wedding ring.

They couldn’t be the only survivors. They couldn’t.

A move a few feet away caught their attention, they both looked up to see Logan pushing off some huge debris off himself and standing up as his lethal injuries healed themselves pretty fast. He couldn’t help but envy Logan’s powers. He wished all his friends have those same powers. It would have been much easier.

“Try to look for survivors!” Steve called for Logan, who looked up at them in surprise, probably thinking he was the last survivor too.

“Alright.” Logan nodded and started looking around.

“Steve.” Tony whispered when he noticed the black feathers that turned out to be two large wings that seen better days, moving to reveal a perfectly intact Castiel, Dean and Natasha, who looked around with wide shocked eyes as they clutched to Castiel like a lifeline.

God, Castiel _was_ a Guardian Angel.

Steve and Tony immediately shot up to rush towards their friends, but Steve froze when he noticed something in the middle of the ruins. The look of pure terror and devastation shook all of them as he collapsed to his knees, his eyes never looking away from what he saw.

They looked at what he was staring at, only to be hit with a tidal wave of pain and unbearable grief.

“No. No, no. This can’t be happening, no.” Natasha’s body shook as she let her tears fall freely at the scene. Dean let out a pained noise as he looked away to hide his tears. Castiel’s face broke in pain, unable to control his feelings.

Tony collapsed next to Steve, who was two seconds away from becoming a sobbing mess, but was controlling himself as much as he could and was failing, as they all stared at Clint and Bucky’s bodies that were crushed under the collapsed building. Following their fallen teammates.

They lost another two of their team. Another harsh blow that left them reeling. What could possibly be worse?

“Guys.” Logan called out in a pained voice. “You might need to come here.”

Maybe he shouldn’t have said that.

They all rushed towards him, still in shock from Clint and Bucky’s deaths.

Only to get another painful hit.

Thor was kneeling on the ground in a complete state of shock as he stared down at Bruce’s body in front of him. A destroyed look on his face.

“He pushed me out of the way.” Thor murmured dazedly, eyes never leaving Bruce’s body. “He pushed me away to not be crushed. Only for him to be crushed instead before he could hulk out.” Thor looked up at them, tears falling heavily from his eyes. “He died for me and I am wishing I had died with him.”

His words broke all of them as they let their tears fall unchecked. This was too much. Tony wasn’t sure he could handle this anymore. A loss after a loss. That was too fucking much. He was running out of family. They were falling one after another and he couldn’t save anyone. 

That’s when he remembered that there was still someone missing.

“Charles?” he called suddenly as his body tensed in panic. “Charles? You hear me?”

He shot out to search for his childhood friend, panic not allowing him to breathe properly.

He felt his friends moving too. Castiel and Natasha remaining with the broken Thor, while Dean, Steve and Logan searched with him for Charles.

Tony finally found the remains of Charles’ wheelchair, and felt dread fill him as he collapsed on his knees and started to remove debris from around that area.

He kept searching, until he finally saw Charles’ head in the middle of all the debris.

“Charles!” Tony exclaimed in panic as he rushed to check on his friend.

Dean appearing next to him and checked Charles pulse. “He is alive. Barley.” Dean announced with a pale face as he looked up at Tony.

He helped Tony in removing the debris from on top of Charles’ body as Steve and Logan ran up to them. Castiel and Natasha helped Thor up and were coming as well.

“Charles? Charles, come on, open your stupid eyes.” Tony urged him as he grabbed the sides of his face carefully. “Come on, Big Brain. You are a strong son of a bitch. Wake up.”

Charles’ eyes fluttered open a little. He looked horrible. Blood covering half of his face, lots of broken parts in his body with an enormous number of injuries. Tony’s heart was banging hard in his chest at the sight. No. No, he can’t take another hit. He can’t.

“T-T-ony?” Charles uttered painfully as his barley opened eyes rested on Tony.

“There you go, buddy. I knew you are too stubborn for a collapsed building to end you. We will get you help, okay? You are going to be fine. You are going to be-“

“No. I will not.” Charles cut him off weakly as he gave Tony a sad look. “You know this.”

“No, I don’t know this. You _will_ be fine. You are not getting out of this easily. You hear me?” Tony’s voice was shaking a little as he felt pain and grief clogging his throat. No.

“That’s not what you are thinking.” Charles gave him a weak, sad smile. “It’s okay. It is. At least-at least I will be with him now.”

His words broke all of them as they felt their tears intensified.

“That’s not what he wanted when he gave his life to save you.” Castiel murmured as he looked down at Charles in pain.

“Well, he didn’t care about what I wanted when he did that, so I will not care about what he wanted.” Charles murmured with a sad smile. His voice getting weaker and weaker as his eyes started to glaze over.

“Charles, please.” Tony couldn’t keep away his sob as he stared down at his oldest friend. His brother. Who was dying in front of him and couldn’t do anything about it.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, Tony.” Charles murmured softly. Voice starting to fade away. “I want this. I-I want to be-be with h-him again.” He gave Tony one last smile. “Thank you. For everyth-everything you-you did for me. F-for being there. Always.” One tear slid down his cheek as he closed his eyes. “Goodbye, my-my family.”

With that he was gone. Body losing all signs of life. A body that held one of the kindest, sweetest souls that ever lived. Taking with him any remaining hope in everyone’s hearts. Leaving behind a pile of ruins and a bunch of broken, hopeless and destroyed superheroes.


	15. Chapter 15

Silence enveloped Time Square with the stink of death everywhere, bodies thrown everywhere and wreckage of battleships from both sides.

Leftovers from the massacre.

Third day of the invasion and New York already became a ghost town.

Everyone hid in their homes, waiting for death in any second after they knew that the invaders knew the locations of all the bunkers and destroyed them all.

It was like the invaders didn’t want any human to hide.

Wanted them in front of them. At all times.

No one knows why. What’s the point of all of this? Why are they doing this? Nothing makes sense anymore.

In the middle of all this destruction and silence, two bodies moved carefully and lightly through the ruins.

Gracefully, they reached the wreckage of one of the enemies’ fallen battleships, they were covering their faces as they studied the wreckage carefully.

For two minutes, neither one of them said anything.

“You were right, Cas.” Steve whispered quietly. “The ship has no pilot.”

“There is a pilot seat, but obviously was never used.” Castiel murmured with a frown.

“All these battleships were remote controlled then. Or self-controlled.” Steve said as he furrowed his brows in thought.

“What’s the difference?”

“Well, this means that these battleships are, in fact, robots that were programmed with an AI or something that allows it to fight and maneuver expertly and gain new moves.”

“That actually explains a lot.”

“Like what?”

Castiel was about to answer him, before snapping his mouth shut and frowned anxiously, signaling for Steve, who understood what was going on as they both rushed to hide behind some ruins and stopped breathing.

A few seconds later, he heard what Castiel’s ears heard earlier.

One of those huge robotic spiders was approaching.

They both shrank down to hide completely from sight, as a beam of light came from the spider.

For three minutes, the spider trudged between dead bodies and wreckage, and started to scan the area for any sign of life.

It walked further away and away, until it finally disappeared around a corner.

Finally, they both let out a deep breath.

“Things would have gone terribly if it saw us.” Steve sighed as he took a much needed air into his lungs.

“I think we are done here. We should go back to our hideout and regroup with the others.” Castiel stated as he started to move carefully and stealthily through the ruins.

“Alright.” Steve murmured as he followed him, wondering what Castiel was thinking.

***

“Our enemies are not a living beings.”

Castiel stated when they reached the hideout, where the remaining Avengers were hiding.

The last hit took a toll on all of them. Tony just sat in a corner, while hugging his knees to his chest, a look of pure shock on his face since the moment Charles breathed his last breath. Dean sat next to him, a lost look on his face, since he wasn’t sure if he should try and comfort Tony or comfort himself first. Natasha and Thor curled next to each other, a look of deep pain itched on their faces for their lost lovers. Logan, as usual, watched everything sadly and silently.

“Why are you saying that?” Dean asked, questioning Castiel’s last sentence.

“Everything that happened so far proves that. We didn’t see any living creature of those invaders so far. Even when we entered their mother ship, we only saw that robot Emperor and robotic mosquitos. Here on Earth, since the invasion began, we only saw robots. Just robots, so what this means?” Castiel explained, looking like he thought about that for a while now.

“You are saying that we are fighting a world ruled by machines?” Steve exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Exactly!”

“A world ruled by what?” Logan asked in surprise.

“By machines. A world its Emperor a giant robot and all his army is robots.”

“How can a world like that exists?” Tony asked in confusion, as the conversation pulled him out of his shock. “Every machine needs a builder. It can’t just exist out of nowhere.”

“Of course. No doubt about that. So let’s draw the picture from the beginning.” Castiel started to walk around the room as he explained. “Let’s imagine a highly advanced world that build that huge mother ship, that looked like a planet, and released it into space, with a full crew on it with many advanced machines with artificial intelligence, to explore the universe or something. Then those machines malfunction somehow and its high intelligence helped it to overcome its creators and destroyed them, then took over everything.”

“This is getting on Sci-Fi movies territory.” Logan commented with a frown.

Castiel continued like he didn’t hear him. “And because those machines are programmed to search for lives around the universe, they continued their journey in the endless space, and through the Stars Passage, looking for any occupied planet.”

“And destroys it.” Dean continued grimly.

“Exactly.”

“Well, that sounds familiar.” Steve sighed in frustration as he shared a meaningful look with Tony.

“A space Ultron that made it its mission to destroy all signs of life in the universe. That just got even worse.” Tony muttered bitterly.

“But this explains their mercilessness and the suicidal way they fight with. Machines have no heart, they don’t feel mercy or compassion, and the word life or suicide are meaningless to them.” Thor interjected carefully.

“This also explains their strategic ways in fighting and breaking their enemies fighting spirit.” Steve added with a frown.

“Well, like Tony said, that just got worse.” Natasha sighed tiredly.

“But that gives us a little hope, at least.” Steve announced in determination.

“What hope?” Logan asked incredulously.

“We faced a situation like that before and managed to win then. We can do it now too.”

“Back then we were a full team, Steve. Right now we are barley a quarter of a team.” Natasha whispered without looking up at him. “There is no way we can defeat an army of robots in our state.”

Her words made them reel a little, but tried to overcome the emotions threating to burst again. 

“No matter how smart a machine could be, it is no match against a human brain.” Steve insisted.

“How do we know that there is no living genius mind behind all that?” Dean asked curiously with a raised eyebrow.

“What is left for them to announce themselves?” Castiel countered immediately. “They had their victory, aren’t they? Didn’t they manage to control four fifths of the Earth so far?”

“That actually brings another question to mind.” Tony started, looking deep in thought. “Why didn’t they control the Earth all at once? They have enough fire power to attack the whole Earth at the same time easily enough. Why did they attack one country at a time?”

“That-that actually a pretty good question.” Castiel frowned as he thought about it. “Why did they do that? They have more than a million battleships. That doesn’t make sense.”

“Why the rush? They have everything under their control now.” Logan rolled his eyes in frustration.

“No, that can’t be the reason.” Steve shook his head then.

“Then what is?”

Steve and Castiel shared a look before the former answered. “It is still unclear. But we will figure it out.”

A thought hit Castiel’s mind then and made him stop to think carefully.

“Tony, your suit still functioning, right?” he asked suddenly as he looked up at the genius.

“Well, yeah. It took a heavy hit, but still functioning. Why?” Tony answered, looking a little startled at the seemingly random question.

“So, we are still in control of our machines?”

“So far? Yeah, we are.”

Castiel hummed as he studied something in his head. Everyone stared at him carefully. They could almost hear the gears spinning in his head.

“Cas? What are you thinking about?” Dean asked carefully, as he looked at his husband impatiently.

“I am thinking that it is impossible to defeat an army of robots in our current state.” He answered looking distracted.

“Yeah, we established that.” Natasha muttered in frustration.

“So,” Castiel’s eyes looked up at Tony whose eyes started to widen, like he finally started to know what the angel’s trail of thoughts are leading to. “We stop that army from ever coming to Earth in the first place.”

His words made their eyes widen as they stared back at him in confused surprise.

“How?” Steve asked carefully, but he felt that he knew where Castiel’s thoughts are going.

A slow smile appeared on the angel’s face, as he trailed his eyes on his family’s faces with renewed hope in his expression.

“We are going to pull a Sydney.”

***

They all stared at Castiel with wide eyes, trying to wrap their minds around what the angel was saying.

“Are you being serious?” Steve whispered, his eyes wide as he stared at the angel.

“Do you see any other solution to our current situation?” Castiel asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Wait, sorry, am I missing something?” Logan trailed his eyes between them in confusion. “What does ‘Pull a Sydney’ even means? And why are you all looking horrified?”

“Right. You don’t know that expression.” Dean sighed as he turned to Logan to explain. “A few months ago, a young woman named Sydney came to us from the future. She is our grandkid. Apparently, our kid is going to marry the Stark-Rogers’ kid and have her. She used a Time ship built by future Tony to stop a disaster that happened in her time because of something that happened in the past. So we now call any situation that involved going back in time to save the present: ‘Pull a Sydney’”

Logan blinked back at him as the amount of information processed in his head. “You guys have a terrible life.”

“Even if we tried to do that, don’t we need, I don’t know, a freaking Time ship?” Natasha said in frustration as she looked at them incredulously. Steve, Castiel and Dean’s eyes trailed towards Tony then, who looked away and fidgeted nervously. Natasha looked at them in confusion before it dawned on her. “Oh my God, Tony, you didn’t.”

“What?” He muttered without looking at her.

“You built a Time ship? You took Sydney’s ship archives and built your very own fucking Time ship?”

“Technically, it’s not the same as Sydney’s.” he shrugged a little but still didn’t look up. “Sydney’s ship depended on reaching the Nil Zone to get through the Time Holes. That way can’t be accurate if you wanted to reach a certain time, but I guess my future self didn’t know that when he built it. So, when I built the current one, I used Sydney’s archives to find an alternative way to travel through time, which I did. If we reached the speed of light, it can breach a realm I called the Time River, which supposedly, should be where time flow. With added information in the ship, it will go with the flow of the river, until it reached the right time and get out of the realm. Theoretically, anyway.”

“You are missing my point, Tony. You built a fucking Time ship decades before you will supposedly built it! You changed history!” Natasha was yelling now, her tensed nerves finally exploding. “Your change could have caused all of this! We were supposed to live for decades! Supposed to see our children grow, get married and have their own kids! Supposed to see all of that! All of that changed suddenly, and you building that thing could be the reason!”

Tony’s face paled as he stared back at her in horror. “I-I kept it a secret. The only ones who knew about it are Steve, Dean and Cas. I was going to build Sydney’s ship when it’s time comes, but I was never going to announce this one. Just kept it as a backup plane or something.”

“Besides, we don’t know that was the reason for everything that happened.” Steve interjected firmly, sending a warning look at Natasha. Tony didn’t need to hear such things after what they went through. “In fact, this ship could be our way to set history right. Maybe it was meant all along to help us stop this. Cas is right. This is the best plan we have right now.”

“I never tested it.” Tony muttered weakly. Face still pale from Natasha’s words. “I don’t actually know if it will work.”

“We don’t actually have any other choice.” Thor murmured quietly. “I think it is the best time to test it. If it didn’t work, then we are going to die anyway.”

“And we owe it to the ones we lost to try.” Castiel added sternly. “If there is a small chance we can bring everyone back. That we can fix everything. Stop all of this from happening, then we have to try. Have to make this work.”

“It has to work.” Steve said tensely. “Because I honestly don’t know what we will do if it didn’t.”

They fell silent as they looked at each other, grief and pain still lingering in the air between them.

In the matter of a week, they lost everything. Lost their home, their family, their world. Everything was falling apart around them. They have nowhere to go and nothing else to do. 

Thor was right. Even if this didn’t work, they were already dead.

“The ship was in the tower. What if it was destroyed with it?” Dean asked, breaking the silence that fell on them.

“Before we went on that mission I hid it in an underground room under the Tower.” Tony answered quietly. “It should be safe from the destruction that happened.”

“Before we decide anything, are you all with this plan?” Steve questioned as he trailed his eyes on all their faces. “No one is forced to do anything. This is a one way trip. A suicide mission. Most of us might not make it. It is your decision.”

“Well, we were going to die anyway.” Natasha just shrugged. “So let’s die while actually doing something.”

“You know me, sweetheart.” Tony gave him a small bitter smile. “I always wanted to go out with a bang.”

“I don’t really have anything better to do.” Logan said with a small shrug. “Or anywhere to go.”

“Well, that’s not my first rodeo.” Dean sighed with a roll of his eyes. “Crazy plans that might not work. Suicidal situations. End of the world if we failed. Pretty much my life story.”

“I will die fighting.” Thor announced with a determined look. “If there is a slight chance that we will get our family and home back, I will do it with everything I got.”

Steve trailed his eyes towards Castiel, who nodded at him silently, but it was enough. No words needed. They will all readily die to save their world. To bring everything back.

“We are the Earth’s last hope.” Steve started as he faced all of them with a determined face. “We lost too much. We are few, tired and grieving, but we will be enough. If we split up at any point, you protect each other. At least one of us has to reach that Time ship. One of us can change everything. Can save all of us. Even if we all died, it won’t matter, as long as one of us reaches it.” he straightened up to his full height, his eyes trailing towards Tony’s. Their eyes held as he said his next words. “We have to reach that ship. Whatever it takes.”

The implication in Steve’s words fell on them like a lightening.

He was right. This has to work.

Whatever it takes.


	16. Chapter 16

A violent explosion sounded from close to the remains of the Tower, its shrapnel spreading on a large area, at the same moment, a battleship crossed the sky, showering everything with laser beams.

From afar, the huge metal spiders appeared and were making their way towards the same area, crushing everything and everyone that comes across them.

In the middle of all of this, the seven remaining Avengers ran as fast as they could towards the Tower.

Steve at the front, shield held tightly as he covered them, behind him, Tony, Dean, Castiel and Natasha fired their guns and repulsors at everything, while Thor and Logan tried to keep the spiders away from them.

“It’s no use, Steve!” Natasha exclaimed breathlessly. She was panting hard from effort, since she was injured on their way here. “They found us and are surrounded by those bastards. We are not gonna make it.”

Steve frowned as he kept running forward. “We’re not just going to give up. We have to keep going. At least one of us has to make it.”

She dropped to her knees then as she panted heavily. “Then you have to keep going without me. I can’t. I’m sorry.”

Dean stopped and jogged back to help her up. “Come on, Nat. Everything will be fine if we reached the Tower. Just a few more, come on.”

“I can’t. We ran for miles, Dean. I will just slow you down, just go.” She shook her head, as she tried to push Dean away, who stubbornly held her up.

“No, you will-“

“Watch out!” Tony and Castiel screamed as they saw a battleship approaching them fast.

“Split up! Everyone, split up!” Steve exclaimed, as he took hold of Tony to pull him away.

But the battleship hit them before they can fully run away.

The explosion this time was hard enough to throw them all in different directions, to fall in a heap of limps, away from each other.

***

Dean felt like he was hit by a bus as he tried to get up. He looked around and realized that he got thrown way too far from everyone else. His heart banged loudly in his chest as panic raised inside him when he didn’t find Castiel anywhere close to him.

“Cas?” he called out, as he tried to get back on his feet. “Cas? Can you hear me?”

He felt movement behind him, but when he turned around he found himself face to face with one of the giant spiders. He stumbled back in panic, but there was no way he could escape.

Just when he was about to feel the spider’s laser beam ending him, he was pushed out of the way at the very last moment and the laser hit the one who pushed him instead.

He fell hard on the ground, a pained shout and a crushing sounds surrounding him.

He pulled himself out of the ruins he fell in and scrambled to his feet frantically, only to feel his heart shuttering at the scene in front of him.

Natasha on the ground in the place he was in a second ago, with a gaping hole in her middle and Castiel standing over a crushed spider with a pained look on his face as he stared down at Natasha.

“Nat! No, No.” Dean screamed as he rushed forward to fall on his knees next to her and gathered her in his arms. He felt Castiel dropping next to him boneless. “What the hell did you do?”

“I couldn’t-couldn’t watch anot-another Winchester die-die in front of-f me and do no-nothing.” She uttered weakly as she looked up at him dazedly.

“You stupid fucking-“ Dean choked out unable to finish his trail of obscenities as he looked down at Natasha with tears falling heavily from his eyes. “I already lost Sam. I didn’t-didn’t want to lose you too.”

“You li-like me. I kne-knew it.” she smiled weakly up at him. She trailed her eyes between the both of them for a second, before her eyes dropping shut. “It’s ok-okay. It was-was worth it. Just-just fi-fix this. Please. Fix it.”

With that, her body shuddered one last time, before stilling completely. For the last time.

Dean let out a pained sound as he stared down at her, tears falling heavily from his eyes and clutched her body close as he cried.

“Dean, we-we have to move. Need to find the others.” Castiel whispered softly as he urged him to let Natasha go. Dean looked up at him only to find the angel’s face also pained and tears falling from his eyes.

“She-she pushed me away. She is-“

“I know. I saw.” Castiel whispered sadly. “Don’t let her sacrifice go to waste. We need to keep moving. If we reached the Time ship, all of this will be undone. We have to go.” 

Dean reluctantly let go of Natasha’s body, accepting Castiel’s help to his feet. He threw one last pained glance at her, before he pushed it all down and sprinted with Castiel to find the others.

***

Probably the only thing that saved Tony from the explosion, since he was the one closest to it, was his suit.

The suit that was now mostly ruined, as he was thrown hard at a close building.

He pulled himself up to a sitting position with a pained groan and looked down at himself. The only parts left of his suit was the right arm, one leg and half his chest plate. It was a miracle it lasted this long after everything that happened to him so far.

He looked beside him and saw Steve thrown a few feet away from him. His body still and unmoving.

He felt panic rise inside him as he scrambled to his side, ignoring all his pains and injuries.

“Steve! Steve, hey, you still with me?” he exclaimed frantically as he pushed his husband to his back so he could check on his pulse. He felt an overwhelming relief when he felt Steve’s steady heartbeat. “Come on, honey, it’s not a good time to take a nap.” He shook him gently but firmly until he started to stir.

Steve’s eyes opened a little, only for them to widen in panic as he stared at something behind Tony. “Tony, watch out!” he screamed and grabbed him to push him away.

Tony turned to see two spiders right behind him, when he and Steve were about to be crushed, Logan jumped out of nowhere and pushed both spiders away from them.

“Go! I will handle it, just go!” he shouted as he pulled out his claws and faced the two spiders. More spiders were approaching fast, and Tony knew, even though Logan had a killer healing factor that saved him for years, there was no way he will be able to survive this fight against all those spiders. “I said go! Before it’s too late!”

Tony pushed Steve up to his feet fast. They shared a quick, last glance with Logan.

“Fix this shit up, or I will haunt you down.” Logan threw over his shoulder, before letting out growl and threw himself at the first spider.

With heavy hearts, they started to sprint down the way that will lead them to the tower, trying hard to ignore the sound of Logan’s pained yells, as over a dozen of those spiders crowded around him and started to tear into him.

They will fix this. They have to.

***

The four of them bumped into each other just when they were about to reach the remains of the Tower.

“Nat?” Steve asked in worry when he didn’t see her.

Dean looked away in pain, while Castiel shook his head sadly. 

Tony and Steve’s eyes widened, as they felt their hearts break at their new loss.

“Thor? Logan?” Castiel asked as they continued to run towards the Tower.

“We didn’t see Thor. Don’t know where he is. Meanwhile, Logan-“ Steve cut himself off as he looked away from Castiel’s eyes. It was expected. This was a suicide mission, they expected to lose lives in this. But it still hurts like hell.

“It doesn’t matter.” Castiel said in determination. “The moment we reach the ship, none of this will matter.”

They were almost at the Tower, when three battleships appeared in the sky and were making their way towards the four of them fast.

“Take cover!” Dean exclaimed, as he pushed them away from the first line of laser beams that rained down on them.

Before they could get back up on their feet, the other two ships started their attack as well.

Before anything could happen to them, another battleship came into view and shot at one of the other ships destroying it.

“Before anyone asks any questions. It’s me.” Thor’s voice sounded through the comms.

“Thor? You are inside that ship?” Steve called out with wide eyes.

“I managed to steal one of their ships. Go! I will keep them away from you, just go!” Thor exclaimed as the other two battle ships turned towards him, joined by another three.

“Come on, guys. We have to move!” Tony urged them as they started to run again through the destroyed Tower. “We are getting closer to the secret door, come on.”

Steve made the mistake to look behind them, and saw over a dozen of those spiders, destroying the remains of the building as they almost caught up with them.

At the same moment, Thor was being surrounded by the battleships tightly.

“They surrounded me! I can’t shake them off any longer!” Thor exclaimed through the comms.

“This is a nightmare. This can’t be happening.” Tony shook his head violently, while the others closed their eyes in pain.

“If this is my end I will take you all with me!” they heard Thor’s scream and watched helplessly as he flew his battleship right towards one of the invaders’ “Save us, my friends! Save us!”

With that, his battleship exploded violently, taking all the other battleships with it.

They pushed down their pain at another loss. They have no other choice but to keep going. No time to grief for another lost friend.

The spiders were getting closer. With a heavy heart, Steve stopped running and faced the last members of his family with a pained face.

“Steve?” Tony asked in confusion as he stopped too to look at his husband. The look on Steve’s face must have given him away, because in the next second, Tony’s face crumpled as he began to shake his head. “No. no, you can’t.”

“Tony-“

“You can’t! Did you hear me? You can’t!” Tony was downright shouting desperately now.

“Sweetheart, those spiders will reach us the moment we reach the room. Someone has to hold them off long enough to get the job done.” Steve said carefully, as he took Tony’s hand gently in his.

“It doesn’t have to be you! I can stay behind. You go!” Tony yelled as he gripped Steve’s hand to pull him forward, but Steve held his ground.

“You are the only one who can operate the Time ship. We all planned from the beginning for you to be from the ones who reach the ship.” Steve whispered, not really meeting Tony’s eyes as he said that. “Don’t let our efforts go to waste.”

“Then we will stay behind.” Dean interjected desperately.

“Yes, Dean and I can hold them off, so you two could reach the Time ship.” Castiel added hastily, eyes glued desperately at Steve.

“No, it has to be the two of you.” Steve shook his head firmly. “At least one of you had to get in that ship. You have experience in situations like this. You will do a better job in saving us. Way better than anyone.” He gave them a small smile then. “It has to be you. I have a complete faith in the both of you. That you will save us.”

His words made them freeze, as both Winchesters stared at him in pained awe. Unable to say anything.

“Steve, please.” Tony cried as he grabbed at him desperately. “Please, don’t do this. Don’t-don’t do this to me.”

“I will catch up, okay?” Steve cupped his face gently. “I will catch when I can. You go. Please, just go, we are running out of time.”

“Steve, no. Please, no-“

“Take him and go.” He said as he turned to Dean and Castiel. “You know I am right. Just take him and go.”

“Steve-“ Castiel started, looking pained.

“Please, take him and go.” He repeated more desperately.

Dean and Castiel shared a pained look, before moving to grab Tony’s arms, who thrashed against them.

“No! I am not going without you! Please, Steve, don’t! Please!” Tony screamed, as the Winchesters dragged him away.

“I love you.” Steve said with a small smile, eyes filled with tears as he stared at his husband. “Until my very last moment and beyond. I love you.”

Tony stared back at him dumbfounded, before he broke down again. “You idiot! You stupid idiot, don’t you fucking do this to me! Please!”

Dean looked away in pain, while Castiel met Steve’s eyes as they dragged the still screaming and thrashing Tony away. “See you soon, my friend.”

“You will. I am sure of that.” Steve nodded back at him firmly.

He watched them as they ran, until they disappeared around a corner, Tony’s screams and pleadings still echoing through the halls.

Steve closed his eyes to control his emotions as he turned to face the approaching army of spiders, who almost reached him.

“Come on, you bastards.” He growled as he readied his shield, standing his ground against the approaching army. “I can do this all day.”

***

They continued to run for another fifteen minutes or so.

No one said anything as the sounds of battle reached them. They didn’t dare to say anything as they heard Steve fighting to give them a chance.

Tony had stopped screaming, although his tears still ran down his face, but they still kept a firm grip on his arms as they ran. Knowing that he will rush to Steve the moment he get a chance.

“This is it.” he stopped them both suddenly with a strangled voice, they found themselves stopping in front of a blank wall.

“What? Where is it?” Dean asked as he looked around in confusion.

“Here.” Tony answered as he raised his palm to rest it against a part of the wall.

A square glowed under his palm for a second, before a part of the wall moved, revealing a hidden room where the Time ship was.

At the same moment, the sounds of battle stopped.

And Tony collapsed to his knees in the next moment.

“Tony!” Dean exclaimed, as he and Castiel dropped next to him, only to see him staring at his wedding ring with wide, shocked eyes.

“Tony, what happened?” Castiel asked frantically, when the genius didn’t move.

“I-I just became a widower.” He whispered in shock as he raised his wide, unseeing eyes to them. “His-his heart stopped beating. He’s-he’s gone.”

Dean and Castiel winced in pain, as they stared at him brokenly.

“Tony, I-I know what you feel, okay? I know the pain you are in.” Dean started in a pained voice. “But it’s going to be okay. If we reached that ship, all of this will be okay. We don’t have time, please don’t let his sacrifice go to waste. Please, we need you.”

Tony’s eyes trailed towards him. The scariest thing was how blank Tony’s face was. No emotions. Just blank. It scared the both of them.

Tony got back to his feet and they followed his lead, as he marched inside the room. The Time ship was there. Looking completely different from the one Sydney came in, all those months ago.

He pressed a button and the ship’s door opened. “Get inside. I need to start it up.”

They both rushed inside the ship. Only to panic when the door closed behind them with Tony still outside.

“Tony, what are you doing?!” Dean yelled as he turned to look at Tony through the small window in the door. “Open this door and come inside!”

“Someone has to stay behind to operate the ship.” Tony said with a blank face, as he worked on one of the many computers attached to the ship. “Steve was right. I am the only one able to do it. And also-“ he turned to look at them with a soft look. “It has to be you. You will be able to do this.”

“We are not leaving you behind!” Castiel exclaimed desperately.

“Tony, please, just get inside the ship. Come on!” Dean yelled as he banged his fist against the small window. “Come on, man. You are the only one we have left!”

“I will not live a day over him.” Tony’s face broke a little, but still managed to give them a small weak smile. “Besides, it doesn’t matter. You will save us. Like you always do. I know you will.”

The engines of the Time ship started up, just when the walls of the room broke down under the spiders’ assault and started to march towards Tony, who pressed one last button before looking back at them sadly. “Save us.”

“No, Tony! No!” Dean and Castiel screamed as the ship started its journey, the last thing they saw before they disappeared, was the spiders charging towards Tony mercilessly.

Then they were gone. Through time. Taking their world’s last hope with them. 


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We reached the plot twist I have been hinting at for a while. I even hinted it in the cover of the story. If you looked at it after this chapter it will make sense.

The jolt this time was so hard, it managed to throw both Dean and Castiel on the floor, successfully waking the former and pulling the latter from his memories.

Castiel’s eyes opened wide as he looked around in confusion. That jolt was indicating that something big was approaching, but the scene outside was still the same.

The different, fast changing colors.

But something inside him told him that this wasn’t right.

There was something wrong. Something Tony never anticipated would happen when he built this ship.

The trip took a long time.

Too long for it to be right.

He didn’t know what that was supposed to mean. Time travel wasn’t exactly a new experience for him, but it was the first time he did it in an actual Time ship. So he was out of his element here.

Tony should have been the one here with Dean. 

Is the ship lost in the Time River forever? Or jumped into the far past? Or far future?

He trailed his eyes towards the Time pointer, in attempt to know where they were supposed to be.

But everything was in utter chaos.

The numbers were changing disturbingly fast. It just gone crazy like everything around him. And he still didn’t understand why his body was so heavy and exhausted.

“Where are we now?” Dean groaned weakly from beside him. “Why my body is heavy? What’s going on?”

“I-I don’t know.” He said weakly as he used every remaining strength in his body to pull himself up and tried to reach the controllers.

He tried.

But never managed to reach it.

“We manage to escape from an invasion, only to be lost through time. Isn’t this just the perfect ending for our miserable lives?” Dean muttered bitterly as he looked up weakly at Castiel.

“No, this can’t be the end.” Castiel muttered as he tried to move again. “If not for us, then for our family, who gave up their lives because they believed we will save them.”

“They should have believed in someone else.” Dean muttered bitterly as he looked away in pain.

The moment he said those words, the bright colorful lights vanished suddenly.

Replaced by clear blue sky.

“Oh, God.” Dean murmured with wide eyes. “Did we-“

Before he could finish, the Time ship tilted to the side suddenly and started to fall fast towards the ground that was approaching way too fast.

They appeared in the middle of the sky, and now they were freefalling hard and fast.

Castiel rushed towards the controllers and tried to take control over the ship.

“I think we did it, Dean.” he exclaimed frantically. “We jumped to a time before the invasion. We did it!”

He took hold of the controllers hard, but the ship just continued to fall fast, until they could see the top of New York’s buildings.

“God, Cas.” Dean murmured with wide eyes as he watched the scene.

“Hold on to anything, Dean!” Castiel ordered loudly, as he kept trying to control the ship.

But its machines weren’t responding.

It just kept falling.

The roofs of the buildings were approaching fast. Too fast.

“Cas, I think this is it!” Dean screamed as he gripped his seat tightly.

With his scream, the bottom of the ship hit the first building violently, which made it tilt again to fall and hit another building just as hard.

And another.

And another.

“Hold on, Dean! Hold on!” Castiel screamed as he tried to rush towards Dean to protect him from all of this.

But before he could reach Dean, they hit another building, and Castiel was thrown when an explosion happened in the back of the ship.

His body flew to the front and hit the controllers hard.

He heard his ribs crack.

Most importantly, he heard Dean’s scream.

The ship rolled on the ground once, twice and three times, until it finally stopped in a cloud of dust.

Ignoring all his pains and serious injuries, Castiel moved to look around frantically.

“Dean?! Where are you?!” he screamed with all the panic and fear he was feeling. “Where are you, Dean?!” He didn’t get an answer, which made him in full on panic mode as he moved around violently, ignoring his wounds. “Dean, please, answer me!”

The cloud of dust finally subsided a little, and his eyes widened in pure terror as he saw the broken glass front and Dean’s body, that was thrown several feet away from the ship in the middle of debris from one of the buildings they hit.

The next thing he knew, he was pulling himself out of the destroyed ship with all his remaining strength to sprint towards Dean’s prune body, fear making his own body shake violently.

“Dean! Are-are you alright?” he took him in his arms gently, heart bounding in panic.

Dean’s face was half covered in blood and his eyes were having a hard time to focus on anything.

“I-I didn’t h-hold on h-hard enough.” Dean murmured weakly as he tried to focus on Castiel’s face. “I-I am s-sorry.”

“Shh, don’t talk. It’s going to be alright. It’s-it’s going to be alright.” He kept repeating this frantically as he placed a hand on Dean’s face so he could heal him.

But nothing happened.

He tried again and again, but nothing was happening.

His grace was not responding. It’s like it is not even there.

“I-I can’t heal you.” Castiel breathed as pure panic and fear took over him. “Dean, I can’t heal you! My-my grace is not responding. I can’t-I don’t-“

“Cas, it’s-it’s o-okay.” Dean whispered as he got weaker and weaker in each passing moment.

“Don’t talk, Dean. Help will be here any moment, okay? You will be okay. It’s going to be okay.” Castiel said frantically as he pulled Dean closer to him.

“It’s okay.” Dean murmured again as he looked up at Castiel sadly. A tear slowly made its way down his face. “You-you c-can do it. You-you can s-save us a-all.”

“No. No, Dean. No.” Castiel shook his head as his tears started to fall heavily from his eyes. “Don’t leave me alone in this. Don’t leave, Dean. Please, I can’t follow you. Please, don’t go where I can’t follow. Dean, if I failed, I can’t follow you!”

“I-I’m s-sorry.” Dean uttered painfully, tears mixing with blood on his face. “So s-sorry.”

His body jerked as he let out one last gasp, his eyes widened momentarily, before his body collapsed completely and his eyes lost the brightness of life.

Right in front of Castiel as he watched helplessly.

“No! Dean, No! Please, no!” Castiel screamed with everything he got, as he pulled Dean’s still warm body as close as he could and just kept screaming.

He screamed until he saw bodies rushing towards him and sounds of sirens surrounding him.

But he didn’t care about any of this.

He just lost everything.

Everything.

The only thing he kept fighting for just died in his arms.

Nothing else mattered.

Everything blackened in his vision then, as hands grabbed at him.

Then his relation with the waking world ended.

***

Loud footsteps sounded through the long hallway of the SHIELD private hospital as they rushed towards a certain room.

Nick Fury looked up at the newcomers from his position in front of the room. “You two came here fast.”

“Where is he?” Steve asked nervously, ignoring Fury’s words.

“In here.” He answered, pointing through the thick glass that showed the bed inside the room, were a very familiar man was laying.

“Oh my God, it’s true.” Tony murmured with wide eyes as he stared at the man’s face. “If I didn’t know any better I would say it’s him.”

“By the way, where is-“

“They will be here any moment.” Steve answered as he stared unflinchingly at the man too. “They were on a hunt when that’s happened. They dropped everything and on their way.”

The moment he said that, they heard another set of footsteps sprinting down the corridor and soon the Winchesters came into view, looking disgruntled.

“Hey, we are here. We came as soon as-“ Dean was interrupted by Tony throwing holy water at his face from a small flask.

The hunter turned to give the genius a wet bitchface.

“Sorry, I am really on edge here. You can’t blame me.” Tony stated with a wince, as he looked nervously at Dean.

“Anyway, is he here?” Sam asked as he stepped forward. Steve just pointed at the glass and they all stared with wide eyes. “Did you make sure it was actually him?”

“Yes, all the tests you told us to use when we called.” Fury confirmed tensely. “Holy water. Silver. Everything. He is legit.”

“Where did he come from?” Steve asked, turning to Fury.

“Initial examinations says it’s a Time ship. It appeared suddenly in our sky, lost its balance the moment it appeared, then fell to hit several buildings violently before landing in the middle of the street. You know the rest.”

“You say that there was someone with him?” Dean asked carefully, trailing his eyes between them.

“Yes. That’s true.” Fury answered after hesitating a little. His eye trailing over Dean nervously. “He didn’t handle the landing very well and-“

He couldn’t finish the sentence so Dean continued in frustration: “He is dead, isn’t he?” Fury just nodded silently, which made everyone’s faces pale at the new information. “Is he-“

“Yes. A splitting image of you. Everything matches perfectly; fingerprints, retinas and even the genetic code. Only the obvious difference you can see in him, his partner here and their ship that is confusing us all.”

They trailed their eyes between each other in nervous confusion.

“Where did they come from?” Steve whispered as his eyes landed again on the body inside the room.

“From the future.” Everyone turned to stare at Castiel, who was silent the whole time, just staring intently at his doppelganger. “It is kind of obvious.”

“That’s-That’s what I thought about too.” Tony murmured carefully. Everyone just stared in awe at the doppelganger. Unable to comprehend all of this fast enough. "But why? What made them take the Time ship to come here?”

“I think he is the only one who could answer your question.” Castiel pointed at the one inside the room.

When he said that, a soft noise came from the doppelganger.

“He is waking up.” Sam whispered as he watched the machines that was attached to the man.

“Are you going to face him?” Fury asked carefully.

“Of course we are.” Steve answered firmly.

“You guys are. Not me.” Castiel interjected just as firmly.

“What? Why not you?” Dean turned to him in confusion.

“If he is a future version of me, then I know exactly what he is thinking right now.” Castiel answered quietly then shrugged. “He is me anyway.”

“I-I don’t understand what you are implying.” Dean looked at him, a little lost.

Castiel just cupped his cheek gently and gave him a soft look. “Let him meet you guys first, as he regain his consciousness, and I will watch from here. I promise to come in, in the right moment.”

They hesitated for a moment, as they trailed their eyes between each other.

“Alright, Cas. You know better than me right now.” Steve nodded with a nervous exhale.

With one last look at Castiel, Dean moved to push open the door so they could face the doppelganger.

***

_ Everyone was gone. _

_His world. _

_His home._

_His family._

_His…Dean. _

_Everyone he ever loved and cared about was dead. _

_He watched all his family as they died one by one, right in front of him. _

_The robotic invaders took the whole Earth._

_Its past. Present. And future. _

_Everything was gone._

_Everything. _

_Even the Time ship. _

_His worst nightmare came true right in front of his eyes. _

_To be the last survivor as his world and family burned, while wishing to be burned with them. _

_But he didn’t._

_Because he was the Earth’s last hope. _

_Only hope. _

_The invaders will not stop. _

_They will keep annihilating until the end. _

_No one will survive from their merciless hands. _

_They will destroy everything and anything. _

_Until there was nothing left. _

_He is the only hope. _

_He can’t give up. Each one of his family placed their trust in him. _

_Believed in him._

_Sacrificed their lives, because they believed he will save them all. _

_He needs to remember that. He needs to forget his pain. His bitterness. His grief. His loneliness. His-his Dean._

_He needs to focus on one thing. _

_Saving his world. _

_He needs to get up and do whatever it takes to make that happen. _

_He needs to wake up._

All of that happened in Castiel’s mind, as he opened his eyes weakly and trailed them around in confusion.

In front of his eyes, he saw four faces that brought a cold shiver through him.

Steve. Tony. Sam. And-and Dean.

They were looking at him in worried hesitation, that, for a moment, he thought he found a way to follow his family to heaven.

That the angels took pity on him and allowed him to be there with them.

But then-but then he remembered.

This was his past.

A past before everything that happened. 

Before Sam was ripped apart by robotic mosquitoes.

Before Steve died while fighting to give them a few extra minutes to escape.

Before Tony sacrificed himself to make sure they escape safely.

Before-before Dean died in his arms after he failed in protecting him.

Those faces looking back at him weren’t his family right now, but he won’t complain.

“Hello.” He gave them a faint smile as he avoided focusing on their faces much. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you all.”

They got even nervous after he said this, and exchanged silent looks between each other.

“I know I am confusing you.” he murmured as he closed his eyes, unable to keep them open for a long time from the exhaustion he was feeling. “Obviously, I am not the Castiel you know.”

“Yeah, we know.” Steve answered carefully.

“You are from the future, Right?” Tony asked in hesitant curiosity.

“Yes. As genius as always.” Castiel smiled a little at that.

Dean was staring hard at his face before shaking his head hard. “God, I can swear that you are him, but-but-“

“Older?” Castiel supplied helpfully, trying hard to ignore the ache he was feeling from just hearing Dean’s voice. The hole Dean left inside him could never be wielded except from his Dean.

This was not his Dean.

“Not older.” Sam was the one who answered carefully. “Just-different.”

He opened his eyes so he could see their faces a little.

“You are different too.” He frowned in confusion. “I don’t know different how. Just different.” 

They exchanged another look before Steve faced him sternly. “Where did you come from?”

“The future. Your future.”

“Our future?”

“Yes.” He tried to sit up a little, Dean and Steve rushed forward to help him into a comfortable position. “It’s a long story. You will hate it, but I will tell it in every detail.”

“Won’t that exhaust you?” Tony frowned in concern.

“Yeah, I think you should get some rest first.” Dean agreed, looking over him in worry.

He did feel exhausted. He didn’t know why. “I need to tell it.”

Again, they exchanged another look.

“We are all ears, then.” Steve nodded at him to start.

He was silent for a few seconds, as he tried to rearrange his jumbled memories.

“What I will tell you is going to be horrible.” He started quietly. “But you will find with me a small flash drive. I put everything on it that will support my story, and what could help you to understand the situation more thoroughly. Everything the space shuttle recorded, all the researches concerning the Stars Passage and a daily journal of each day since the invasion started. Everything that could help you.”

“Invasion?” Sam asked with wide eyes. “What invasion? What shuttle? What passage?”

“I will tell you everything.” He sighed tiredly. “Everything.”

***

Fury’s eye widened as he listened to the doppelganger’s story from outside the room.

“Do you believe this, Castiel?” he asked in shock.

Castiel pursed his lips as he listened to his doppelganger, who was about to finish the story.

“It’s not the craziest thing I ever heard.” Castiel answered quietly.

“You mean-you mean this could be the future waiting for us?” Fury turned his wide eye towards him.

“Not necessarily.” He answered firmly as he stood up. “Don’t forget that he is different.”

“Where are you going?”

“I think it is time to meet myself, right?” Castiel said as he made his way towards the door.

“Yourself.” Fury whispered as he watched in awe.

***

Castiel entered the room calmly.

By then, the doppelganger had just finished his story, ending it with the fall of the Time ship and his Dean’s death.

At first, they both just stared at each other silently, while the others watched with held breaths.

“That’s-it’s you.” the one on the bed murmured with wide eyes. “Or me. Past me.”

Castiel watched him calmly for a second. “But that’s not right and you know it.” he started quietly. “You know how this supposed to work. We are angels. Not humans. If we are one, the moment you entered this time, our consciousness should align. Become one. I see what you saw and vice versa. That how things should be. What always happened. I get nothing from you.”

The doppelganger’s eyes widened as he stared back at Castiel. “That’s right! But-but what does this mean? You know I am not lying. You could see it. Then what is the meaning of this?” 

The others kept trailing their eyes between the both of them, not daring to say anything as they watched.

“Tell me; didn’t you notice anything different?” Castiel asked carefully.

“I did.” The other shrugged in confusion, trailing his eyes on everyone. “Everything seemed different a little. Even you. True, you have the same faces, but there is a difference I can’t put my finger on.”

“Exactly.” Castiel sighed. “You can’t understand it from how rattled you still are from your fall, but we all saw it immediately, and was painfully obvious in your Time ship. Maybe this difference was the main reason why it lost its balance and led to its fall.”

“And what is the difference?” the other asked nervously.

“You will understand it more when you read this.” Castiel motioned for Tony to raise the sign at the foot of the bed, which held the patient’s name and info, and make it face the doppelganger so he could see it.

For a second or two, the doppelganger didn’t seem to understand.

Until it dawned on him.

Understood what the difference was.

The words written on the sign, wasn’t written in the way he was used to.

It was reversed.

Reversed, like he was looking at it through a mirror.

Immediately, his eyes flew to stare at everyone’s faces.

At everything around him.

And understood everything he missed.

Everything around him was reversed.

Mirrored.

Like it was an image inside a mirror.

Everything.

The doppelganger looked up at Castiel, his face distressed and pale as he took a deep, shaky breath. “Do you-do you know what this means?”

Finally, Castiel’s calm face broke into a sad look as he nodded. “Yes. We both knew at the same moment.” He gave him a sympathetic look before continuing. “You, my friend, not only from the future, but also from an Alternate Universe. Our Mirror Universe.” 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just need to clear something up in case anyone is still confused: 
> 
> All the events that happened in the past chapters are in our Mirror World. We are now back in our world, where all the events of the series happened. As well as the future stories. 
> 
> Our world is intact. The Mirror World is destroyed. 
> 
> What is a Mirror World? that will be explained in this chapter. Remember, all the scientific theories in this story are from my imagination, if it turned out to be a real thing then it is just one big happy coincidence.

Everyone in the room just stared back at them silently. No one said anything for almost five minutes.

“You have to say something eventually, you know.” Steve sighed when the silence went way too long.

“Your lives are horrible.” Erik deadpanned quietly, earning a glare from Charles.

“Something other than that.” Steve groaned as he raised an eyebrow at Erik, who just shrugged.

“No, no, he is right. Though the word I’d use is suck.” Raven bitched in helpfully.

“Thanks, Raven, for your helpful words.” Tony rolled his eyes too in frustration.

“Guys, you are talking about a mirror Castiel that came by a Time ship from another world that ended with all of us dying. A world that’s its history and present is exactly like ours. How’s that even possible?” Natasha asked looking at them in confused frustration. “What’s even a Mirror World means?”

“You know about multi-verse, right?” Castiel started from where he was standing by the wall, a little far from everyone, Dean couldn’t help but notice. “Well, each one has an Earth. One could have no Avengers. Another, No Winchesters. In a third one, we could all be females there, and so on. Each world has a Mirror World. A reverse. Both worlds are completely parallel to each other. What happens there, happens in the other. Not once, has any world connected with its mirror. So, this is a first.”

“So, what you are saying is, our future will be the same as theirs?” Charles asked looking worried.

“Of course.” Castiel deadpanned without any emotion on his face, which made everyone look at him in worry. Castiel was never this cold and harsh. “That’s what was happening in our two worlds since forever. Any difference, at any point in time, cause the disruption of the parallelism of the two worlds after that point, which will forge a new future, different from the other one. Until now, that didn’t happen, so that future is still intact.”

“That’s right and I have proof.” Bruce stated with a small frown. “The research on the Stars Passage, that the doppelganger told us about, are real, and it is classified that only a handful of people knows about it.”

“Also, I did build the Time ship and made the super suits for the Winchesters.” Tony added with a sigh. “Those two information were known to, mostly, three to four people only.”

“But obviously, our world will be separated from that fate now, right?” Steve said as he looked up at Castiel, who just looked back at him silently.

“How can you tell?” Dean asked after sending Castiel a worried look, but the angel just avoided his eyes.

“Mirror Castiel managed to come to us and gave us an insight about our future, with all the information we will need on that flash drive. Maybe that will give us the upper hand on those invaders this time.”

“You think we can defeat those invaders?” Logan interjected with a scoff.

“At least we can try.” Steve retorted firmly, before his eyes trailed on their faces. “We need to have hope in this.”

“What hope, Steve? How can you see hope in any of this?” Castiel snapped suddenly in frustration.

“The hope that drove your doppelganger to risk everything, in order to go back in time to save his world.” Steve answered sternly, as he turned to meet Castiel’s eyes in challenge.

“Which turned out so well for him.” Castiel shot back harshly. “The Time ship threw him in our world instead of his, which means his world’s fate is even darker than a moonless night.”

“But he can help us in this, right? After we finish off those bastards, we can find a way for him to go back in the right time, so he could save his world too, right?” Dean bitched in fast, in attempt to calm the sharpness in Castiel a little.

Which backfired.

Castiel looked away with a pained look on his face, while most of the others looked at Dean sadly.

“What? What did I say?” Dean asked in confusion as he looked around.

“Dean, the doppelganger is dying.” Tony murmured sadly as he placed a hand on Dean’s shoulder. “His body works in a reversed way. It won’t let him live long in a world with reversed polarity. He will die soon.”

“What?” Dean whispered with wide eyes. He felt pain raking through his chest at the thought. No wonder Castiel was so bitter and harsh right now.

“At least he managed to come to us.” Steve stated firmly.

“Hopefully that will actually make a difference.” Clint muttered quietly.

“What are we going to do now?” Natasha asked carefully as she looked up at Steve, while throwing worried looks at Castiel.

“Well, firstly; we need to look over everything the doppelganger brought. All the info and data, especially the ones that described his trip with his team through the Stars Passage, and everything about the invaders that no one laid eyes on.”

“His story said they were giant robots.” Raven commented quietly.

“That is a thought they build on what they saw in the invaders’ ship. It’s not a physical proof.”

“Isn’t that enough?” Erik asked in confusion.

“Not necessarily.” Steve shook his head. “There’s no need to rush or jump to anything. Let’s figure everything out first from every direction. We have something that the other world didn’t have; Time to actually study and figure out what to do.”

“Who knows? Maybe our luck will be better than theirs.” Tony murmured quietly.

“At least we have time.” Sam sighed as he got up when the others did, ready to leave the room.

“Dean, you coming?” Tony called out when he saw Dean didn’t follow him to the way of the workshop.

“Yeah, just a second.” Dean called back as he approached Castiel, who was about to leave the room. “Cas, can we talk?”

“Not now, Dean. Please.” Castiel shook his head as he moved away from Dean without even meeting his eyes.

“We need to talk about all of this, Cas.” Dean frowned as he took a step closer to Castiel, trying to meet his eyes. “Cas, come on. We might not be able to have another chance to-“

“Just-not now, Dean. Not now.” Castiel repeated a little sharply, before turning and left the room without looking back at Dean. 

Dean stood there, staring at his retreating back, a hurt look on his face. Not knowing what to do. He felt a hand on his shoulder that made him turn to see Tony’s sad face looking back at him. 

Steve saw the scene and was about to follow Castiel, but JARVIS interrupted.

“Sir, Director Fury is calling.” The AI announced.

“Great. What now?” Tony sighed in frustration. “Put him through.”

A holoscreen appeared. Revealing Fury’s frustrated face.

“Good, most of you are here.” He started with a nervous huff.

“What is it, Fury?” Steve asked in concern.

“We made a few calculations that led us to a conclusion.”

“Which is?” Tony urged impatiently.

“It’s about the time of the invasion.”

“Did you manage to get it?” Fury nodded grimly. “Well, when is it?”

Fury looked away before answering. “According to what we found, the first events that will lead to what happened in the other world will begin in-“ he took a deep breath. “In Forty hours.”

***

“Your way in hiding is sitting on the kitchen table while glaring down at a coffee cup?” Steve raised an eyebrow at Castiel, as he and Charles approached the hunched down angel.

“I am not hiding.” Castiel muttered without looking up.

“Well, obviously.” Charles rolled his eyes, when he stopped next to Castiel as Steve sat on a chair facing the angel. “Either that or you are terrible at hiding.”

Castiel just sighed with a shake of his head, still not looking up.

They sat silently for a few seconds.

“Did you hear what Fury said?” Steve started quietly as he looked carefully over Castiel.

“Yes, I did.” Castiel sighed tiredly again. “I’m sorry.” He looked at Steve for a second, before looking away again. “About earlier. It’s just a little hard to be positive in my position.”

Somehow, the angel looked ten years older out of the sudden. He looked burdened. Might even afraid. He never saw him like this before. It was unsettling.

“I know, Cas.” Steve murmured softly with a sad look. “I can’t imagine what you are feeling, but I understand it. I will question your mentality if all this didn’t affect you.”

Castiel just looked down at his coffee, not answering.

“You know, Castiel, you can talk to us.” Charles stated with a kind smile. “You don’t have to keep all of this inside. We are here if you want.”

“And I don’t think it is a good time for you to push Dean away.” Steve added and placed a gentle hand on Castiel’s shoulder. “He is affected by all of this too, you know? He needs you as much as you need him right now.”

Castiel was silent for a few seconds, that they both thought he won’t answer.

“I saw his doppelganger. In the morgue.” Castiel started quietly, hands tightening around the coffee cup dangerously. “For a moment, I swore it was him. My panic blinded me for a second. Now, every time I look at him, I see him in that morgue. The thought that mirror me had-had watched him die right in front of him. Watched everyone die helplessly, is just-I can’t-“ his fingers tightened suddenly, causing the cup to shatter in his hands, causing hot coffee and pieces of the cup to preach his palms.

“Fuck, Cas.” Steve cursed as he got up fast to get a wet cloth, while Charles reached over to take Castiel’s hands to remove the cup pieces gently.

“You owe your jar a dollar.” Castiel muttered hollowly, as he stared down at his hands as Charles worked on removing the pieces.

“I lost the jar a month ago.” Steve said with a frown as he placed the wet cloth around Castiel’s palms to clean off the blood after Charles finished. “I have no idea where it is and its annoying me.”

“It was Erik. He threw it from over the roof, after you cost him seventy dollars in one day because of it.” Charles cracked a small smile as he looked at Steve shyly.

“I saw him when he threw it, while muttering a few Jar worthy words at it as it fell.” Castiel added helpfully, but still hollowly.

“He owes me a new jar.” Steve scowled at Charles, but looked more amused than upset.

They fell silent after that, focusing on cleaning Castiel’s bloody palms even though it was healing fast.

“We will change that future, Cas.” Steve whispered as he looked up at Castiel in determination. “I promise that you will not go through that future.”

Castiel met his eyes for a few seconds, before sighing and getting up to his feet.

“Where are you going?” Charles asked in confusion as the angel started to make his way towards the elevator, which opened revealing Nick Fury.

“Castiel.” Fury nodded at him in greeting. “Need to-“

“Steve and Charles are over there.” Castiel cut him off and gestured towards the kitchen. “Tell them what you want and they will fill me in later.”

“Castiel, where are you going?” Steve repeated Charles’ question in concern.

“I am going to see him.” Castiel replied as he turned towards him. “Mirror me.”

***

In the workshop, silence enveloped everyone.

Tony was in the middle, surrounded by countless holoscreens as he tried to get all the info from the flash drive Mirror Castiel brought.

Dean on a couch staring down blankly at a tablet, that Tony kept sending some of the info he managed to get towards it, so Dean could study it, but the hunter was just staring down at it blankly.

Erik was on the other side, watching both of them carefully, while checking the screens surrounding Tony curiously at the same time.

“Why are you sending me things so slowly?” Dean broke the silence suddenly, when he finally noticed the long periods of time separating every time Tony sent something.

Tony’s lips pursed in frustration and answered without looking up from his holoscreens. “I am having a hard time here. Everything on that flash drive is reversed, so I am trying to do everything to make it understandable, and its taking time.” 

“Sadly, time we don’t have.” Erik murmured quietly as he studied the screens.

“Yeah, I know.” Tony huffed in frustration. His whole body was tense, lacking the usual grace he always had.

Well, they were all tensed.

Dean tried hard to focus on the tablet, before finally giving up with a groan and slammed it on the couch next to him, then covered his face in his hands in frustration.

Tony stopped working to look over at him with Erik and they both just studied him silently for a few seconds.

“Something you want to share here, Buster Brown?” Tony called, as he looked at him kindly.

Dean looked up, probably to shut him out, but he saw Tony’s expression and just sighed in defeat.

“I just-I want- I just want him to talk to me.” He sighed sadly and looked down at his hands.

“Since when you are so fond of talking?” Erik asked quietly with a raised eyebrow.

“Since he decided to shut me out completely from our bond.” Dean glared down hard at his clinched fists. “Since he decided the best way to deal with this, is to be cold, harsh and a pessimist. I hate that. I am the only one allowed to do that. Him doing it, it’s not right.”

“You can’t exactly blame him, Dean.” Tony sighed sadly. “It’s not easy to see a version of yourself dying in front of you after living through his worst nightmare. Honestly, Cas’ reaction to this is way better than anyone of us, if we were in his position.”

“Just give him some time.” Erik shrugged as he looked softly at him, or as soft as he could get, since he keeps all his softness to one person only. “It’s Castiel. No matter what happened, he will not shut you out for long. He just needs time.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. Whatever.” Dean muttered as he grabbed the tablet again and tried to focus this time.

Erik looked down at his watch, before sighing and getting up on his feet.

“Where do you think yourself going?” Tony asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s been four hours since Charles last ate something.” Erik replied easily as he made his way out. “If I don’t feed him now, he will not eat anything for the rest of the day, since the idiot always forgets to eat.”

“Yeah, I know.” Tony winced a little. “One time we both managed not to eat anything for three days straight, because we were too focused on a science project we were doing.”

“Now I know who I should blame.” Erik glared at him, while Tony shrugged apologetically.

“Hey, could you make something for Cas too?” Dean called out after him. “He didn’t eat all day and I don’t think he will take anything I make right now.”

“Of course.” Erik nodded at him, before turning a questioning look towards Tony.

“No, nothing for me.” Tony replied to the silent question, refocusing on his work. “Steve forced fed me before I came down here.”

Erik nodded, before leaving the room.

Dean watched Tony’s erratic movements as he worked for a few minutes quietly, studying him carefully.

“Dude, you okay?” Dean asked eventually, when the genius just got even tenser in every passing moment.

“I-I don’t-“he started before sighing tiredly, not looking directly at Dean. “What if I was the one that ruined the future? What if me building that fucking Time ship decades before I was supposed to, changed the future to this?” he turned to look over at Dean sadly. “What if I was the reason Sydney will never exist in that other world?”

Dean looked back at him quietly for a few seconds, before sighing with a shake of his head.

“I don’t know, man. I am not really an expert in this, but what I am sure about is that it doesn’t have to be you. It could have been anyone of us. That future was jeopardized the moment Sydney told us about it and she knew it. Anything we did since we came back from the forties could have affected that future. You are not the only one to blame in this, dude.”

“You mean Sydney might not even exist anymore?” Tony looked at him with a pale face.

“I-I don’t know.” Dean looked helpless. “I don’t know what to think anymore. If only there was a way to send a message to the future or something to see if she was still there.”

Tony blinked back at him for a second, before his eyes lighted up suddenly.

“Actually, there might be a way.” He said excitedly as he jumped from his place to rush towards an empty wall.

“A way to what?” Dean asked in confusion as he trailed behind him.

Tony placed a hand on a part of the wall, which turned revealing a hidden room. Through which, stood a Time ship that looked exactly like the one Mirror Castiel came in but reversed.

“Wow.” Dean murmured as he trailed his eyes over the ship in awe that soon changed to confusion, when Tony opened its door and disappeared inside it. He followed him inside to see him working on the ship’s main computer. “Dude, what are you doing? You planning to go to the future or something?”

“Nope. I am trying what you said. Sending a message to the future.” Tony answered without looking up from what he was doing.

“Sending what?” Dean stared at him with wide eyes. “Is that even possible? And how the hell will it reach Sydney?”

“Well, because of her years jumping from time to time, she must be hyper aware of any changes in the timeline, right? Then she will have a connection to the Time ship one way or another, to use it if she had to.”

“That’s a pretty long shot, Tony.”

“What do we have to lose?” Tony looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Nothing.” Dean murmured quietly. “Did you send it?” Tony nodded. “What did you say?”

Tony stepped away to let Dean see the message he sent. It was pretty simple:

_‘Hey, kid. You still there?’ T.S, D.W _

“Do you think she will replay?” Dean whispered, his eyes glued to the short message.

“I certainly hope so, Dean.” Tony murmured back. “Now, we just have to wait and see.”


	19. Chapter 19

Fury looked in confused annoyance at the closed doors of the elevator, through which Castiel disappeared through, before sighing and making his way towards the two blue eyed men sitting at the kitchen table.

“Fury, something else happened?” Steve asked in worry as he watched the man, as he sat heavily on a chair in front of them.

“Well, besides the fact that the invasion will start in forty hours, then no, Captain, nothing new.” He muttered looking bitter.

“Technically, not the invasion, but rather its first events.” Charles corrected quietly.

“I know you tend to be specific, _professor, _but I don’t really see the difference.” Fury retorted a little harshly as he glared at the telepath.

“You might want to watch your tone with him, if you want to survive this invasion, that is.” Came Erik’s cold voice from the doorway, making Fury wince at its coldness as he turned to face him.

“It’s alright, Erik.” Charles gave his husband a small smile, which made Erik relax a little. He sent one last glare at Fury, before making his way towards the fridge. Charles turned back to Fury. “The difference is quite large, Director. After forty hours, the first Noise will happen, that will alert us that someone is trying to breach our space through the Stars Passage. The invasion itself will start in-“

“Yes, yes, I know. I remember.” Fury cut him off in frustration. “I remember what that mirror angel said.”

They all frowned at the way he addressed the other Castiel, Steve was about to voice his annoyance but Fury didn’t give him a chance.

“Did you manage to get everything from that flash drive?”

“Tony is doing his best as we speak to get everything with help from Dean. Bruce and Hank will join them soon.” Steve answered shortly.

“They are working slowly.” Fury scowled.

“It’s not as easy as you think.” Erik interjected, looking up from the sandwich he was making. “Everything mirror Castiel brought worked in reverse. Stark is doing his best to create new ways to study and understand all these reversed information, before it dissolve to nothing.”

“Is that possible?” Fury asked in surprise.

“Of course. Nothing can stay forever in a world with reversed rules and polarity.” Charles stated before a sad look crossed his face. “That includes that poor doppelganger. He will not live long and we don’t have a way to send him back to his world.”

“I don’t think he will want to be sent back.” Steve sighed sadly. “Going back there will be a torture for him. He lost all his family and his world was taken by those invaders that have no intention in leaving anything alive. He might go there and find himself alone in the middle of a destroyed world.”

“We can’t send him back anyway.” Fury said in frustration. “Who knows? Maybe this will be our fate as well.”

“How optimistic.” Erik muttered sarcastically as he placed the sandwich in front of Charles, who smiled up at him gratefully, he leaned down to press a soft kiss on the top of his head, before going back to make another sandwich.

“That’s what our experts say.” Fury sighed tiredly. “There’s is no possible way to defeat a huge army of robots like that. This is not like the whole Ultron thing, this is much worse.”

“Even with everything we know about them?” Steve said indignantly. “Even with us knowing when and where they will strike?”

“That will not make much difference. Obviously, from what that doppelganger brought, these invaders have a way of knowing everything we are doing. They will find out our attempts in fighting back and will be prepared for it.” he let out a huff before adding. “Then our history will take a major twist.”

“Maybe with better possibilities.” Steve stated hopefully.

“Or worse.”

“What could be worse than this?”

“All million battleships attacking us at the same time from the very beginning.”

The three of them looked at each other with furrowed brows, before looking back at Fury.

“Why didn’t they do this in the other world?” Charles asked carefully.

“Maybe it wasn’t necessary.” Fury just shrugged with a sigh.

“Then you think there’s no hope in winning this?” Erik questioned sharply.

“Well,” he started but hesitated a little.

“Well what?” Steve asked impatiently.

He hesitated again before answering firmly. “If we found a way to close the Stars Passage.”

The answer made them stare back at him with wide eyes.

“Is that possible?” Steve asked in surprise.

“Theoretically, yes. All we need is to surround the Earth with a specific energy that will forbid the frequency of a breach from reaching zero. This way, it will be impossible for anything to cross the Stars Passage. The usual ways of transport through space will remain, of course, with its usual speed that will take light years.”

“And this will take how much time?” Charles asked with a raised eyebrow.

“At least a month.” Fury sighed bitterly.

“I don’t think it is time for jokes.” Erik commented harshly as he glared at Fury.

“I did say it was theoretical.”

“We don’t have time to discuss theoretical solutions.” Steve stated sternly. “We need practical solutions.”

“Maybe if we tried from the other side.” Came Hank’s voice from the doorway, they turned to see him standing with Bruce next to him.

“What other side?” Fury asked sharply. “The Stars Passage is like a spider’s net. It is wider and spread more than the internet itself. No one can control the millions of entrances and exits at the same time. Specially, if your enemy can jump from one point to another easily.”

“It’s not what you think.” Hank shook his head. “Even though it is more like a huge net, it is just like the internet. There is always one main path that leads to our world. It can be reached from anywhere in the universe, but only this path can lead to us.”

“If we closed that main path,” Bruce continued Hank’s line of thoughts. “We will forbid anything and anyone, whatever it is, from reaching us.”

“How can we close that main path from the other side then?” Steve asked curiously.

Bruce and Hank exchanged a hesitant look.

“Just say it, we don’t have all day.” Fury muttered in frustration.

Bruce took a deep breath before answering. “This will need a special mission, with a special team.” His eyes met Steve’s then. “A suicide mission.”

***

“How are you feeling?”

Castiel asked his doppelganger softly, a sad sympathetic look etched on his face, which made the other smile a bitter smile on his pale face.

“I can confidently say that I have been better.” Mirror Castiel answered in a weak voice.

“I’m sorry. That-that was a stupid question.” Castiel sighed sadly, as he sat on a chair next to the other’s bed.

They sat silent for a few seconds. Castiel wasn’t sure why he came. He just felt an urge to go see his doppelganger. Even though he was dreading to see him.

Because he kept imagining himself in his place soon enough.

“Where is he now?” The other whispered without looking at him.

Castiel knew who he was talking about without any need for him to elaborate.

“He is still in the morgue.” He answered quietly, trying to hide his pain. “We-we will cremate him. We are just-“

“-waiting for me to be cremated with him.” He continued bitterly.

“No, we will find a way to help y-“

“There’s no point. I know that my cells will not be able to live long in a reversed world. I can feel it. My grace is pretty much gone. I am constantly exhausted. Pain in my chest and kidneys. I am slowly dying, my friend.” He smiled bitterly then, his eyes dazed. “The irony is that I survived the end of my world, only to die alone in another one.” Then his smiled disappeared as pain took its place. “The worst part is, even when I die, I will not be able to follow him.”

Castiel closed his eyes at the wave of pain that hit with those words. A wave that made his body feel heavy and disoriented.

He shouldn’t have come.

“I am so sorry.” He whispered as he fought his tears.

“What is happening in your world now?” The other asked, deciding to thankfully change the subject.

“The invasion will start in thirty six hours.” He answered quietly.

“I really hope your luck is better than ours.” He bit his lower bitterly as he looked at Castiel.

“We will do our best.”

The other closed his eyes weakly. “My weakness is not letting me think as clearly as I used to, but there is a few points that I want you to think about while you revise my world’s story.”

“What is it?” Castiel asked curiously.

“It’s a few questions that needs definite answers.” He gestured with his finger weakly.

“I am all ears.”

His doppelganger seemed to be fighting a coma as he answered. “The light…”

“What light?” Castiel looked at him in confusion.

“Why did they turn off the lights whenever they moved us from one room to another? Even when we were escaping, as the mosquitos attacked us, the lights went out. Why?”

Many theories jumped into Castiel’s head, but he didn’t voice any of them as the other continued weakly: “And why did we never see the invaders? Why didn’t we see any guard or even servants around that huge robot Emperor?”

He sat up with too much effort and opened his dazed eyes. “But the most important two questions are: why didn’t their battleships follow us when we escaped from them through the Stars Passage? And why did they attack one country at a time, even though they had enough battleships to take the whole planet at once?”

Castiel rested his back against his chair as he thought about every question deeply.

“Look for answers for these questions, my friend.” The other whispered as he got weaker and weaker every passing second. “Don’t end up in my position. You don’t deserve all this pain.”

With that, he fell unconscious suddenly as his weakness took over him.

Castiel just sat there, staring at him.

For a long time.


	20. Chapter 20

Tony heard the glass doors of the workshop opening.

Expecting it to be Bruce and Hank ready to help, he didn’t bother looking up from his work as he addressed his visitors.

“Took you long enough to join this slumber party, guys.” He greeted, eyes flying from one holoscreen to another fast.

“I always loved how you look when you are so entranced in your work like this.” Came Steve’s warm voice instead, which made Tony’s eyes fly immediately to his husband’s face, giving him his full attention.

Steve was leaning against the glass door, giving him a soft but a sad smile, eyes trained on Tony.

“Hey.” He greeted softly, his eyes unable to leave Steve’s face. He couldn’t help it. Every time his eyes met his husband’s, he would hear Mirror Castiel’s voice in his head, describing how Steve will die if they failed to prevent that future. The words would keep repeating in his head like a fucking loop.

If they failed, Steve will die. The thought alone made Tony dizzy and weak, as he tried to focus on Steve’s voice.

“Where’s Dean?” he asked curiously, but didn’t look around to search for himself, too busy staring at Tony.

Tony gestured with his head towards the couch, where a sleeping Dean laid with the tablet on his chest and a blanket that Tony threw over him when the hunter fell asleep earlier from exhaustion. Dummy was standing next to Dean’s sleeping body nervously like a guard dog. Probably sensing how troubled Dean was even in his sleep.

“He had a really long day.” Steve murmured sadly as he trailed his eyes towards Dean, before looking back at him.

“Yeah.” Tony murmured quietly, he stood up from the chair he had been sitting on for almost four hours, and made his way towards Steve. “Something happened? You look troubled.”

“No, I mean yes, but I didn’t come here to talk about it. There will be a team meeting later and we will all talk about it as much as we want.” Steve stepped towards him then, he somehow managed to look small, even though he had pretty good inches over Tony. “I just-I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“Then why did you come here?” Tony whispered as he gently took Steve’s hand in his to pull him closer.

“We didn’t get a chance to be alone since all of this started, and I-“ he sighed as he leaned down to rest his forehead against Tony’s, the strong mask he had been wearing all day falling a little. “I am so tired of acting like all of this isn’t affecting me. Tired of having to be strong for everyone’s sake. But the truth is that I-“ he took a deep breath and Tony could see his eyes getting a little wet, he reached up to cup Steve’s face gently. “-I am scared, Tony. Scared of losing. Of that future happening. I-I don’t-“

“Shhh, honey. I know. I know.” Tony whispered softly and wrapped his arms around Steve’s shoulders, he felt the soldier’s arms wrap around his waist tightly, pulling him closer desperately. “You are allowed to have your weak moments, you know? Allowed to be scared. We are all scared, believe me.” He pulled away a little to meet Steve’s eyes. “Steve, you-you know that we will all work on not letting that future happen. It can’t happen, Steve. We can’t end just like that.”

Steve looked into his eyes for a few seconds, before leaning down to press his lips against Tony’s softly at first. Then the kiss deepened as they both clutched at each other desperately, like they were afraid that the other will disappear if they loosened their grip for a second. They kissed like they were trying to remove any distance between them, trying to melt against each other.

Steve pulled away, only to let his lips travel down Tony’s neck hungrily. Tony moaned as he tilted his head back to give him more access, as he gripped Steve’s hair to pull him even closer.

“I am still in the room, guys. In case you decided to take things further and move to the couch, only to find yourselves on a very grumpy hunter instead, who always, almost, shoots anything that wakes him up.” Came Dean’s grumpy voice from the couch, effectively shuttering the moment.

Steve pulled away to look sheepishly at Dean, obviously forgetting for a moment that he was there, but did not let go of Tony anyway.

“Sorry, Dean.” Steve sighed as he rested his head on Tony’s shoulder, probably to hide his blushing face. Tony just raised his eyebrows at Dean, who rolled his eyes in return.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” He sighed tiredly, but patted Dummy anyway when the robot kept nudging at him for attention. “Did Erik feed Cas?”

“Cas left a few hours ago.” Steve answered as he straightened up again to face the hunter, obviously happy that Dean decided to change the subject. “He went to see his doppelganger in the hospital.”

“What?” Dean tensed at that as he stared at Steve indignantly. Even Tony tensed a little. It was definitely a bad idea for Castiel to see his dying self in his current state. “And you let him go?!”

“Seriously, Dean, could anyone ever stop Castiel from doing anything he set his mind to?” Steve sighed with a displeased frown. “I hate it too, but couldn’t stop him even if I wanted to.”

“Is he back? How long had he-“

“Mr. Winchester had just returned from the hospital, sir.” JARVIS interrupted helpfully. “He is currently in the kitchen, being forcefully fed by an angry Mr. Lehnsherr.”

“Now I want to see that.” Tony smirked a little. “Thanks, Jay.”

“We need to go there anyway. Like I told you, we need to have a team meeting.” Steve stated as he moved towards the door, his hand gripping Tony’s gently as he pulled him along, and gestured for Dean to follow. “There’s something we need to talk about, even if I don’t like it, but we don’t have enough time to waste.”

***

The whole team stared back at Steve, after he told them the new plan.

“So, basically, history is repeating itself.” Dean snapped in frustration. “Mirror Avengers going on a suicide mission was the beginning of their end, and you are asking us to do the same thing?”

“This is different, Dean.” Steve started calmly. He could sense Tony getting tenser next to him and Castiel was getting even more withdrawn. “The mirror team went on their mission to locate the invaders and gather information about them. In the other hand, we will go while having all the information we need about them, and our mission is to close the Stars Passage on their faces, not gather info about them.”

“Why us? Why can’t it be a team from SHIELD or something?” Clint asked sharply.

“You know the answer to that, Clint.” Steve murmured, as he raised an eyebrow at the archer.

“Fucking duty.” Bucky muttered angrily under his breath.

“What are we exactly going to do?” Tony asked, looking frustrated too.

“Closing the Stars Passage will need releasing a very strong, special frequency.” Hank started to explain immediately. “Then intercept it with a sudden critical vocal stop at the right time. It can’t be done unless by someone who knew exactly what to do and when to do it.”

“In other words: me.” Tony stated with pursed lips. Steve avoided looking at him as a pained look took over his face.

“Believe me, I tried everything to keep you away from this.” He murmured bitterly as he felt a cold shiver run through him.

“I wouldn’t have let you go without me, Steve.” Tony glared at him. “That is out of the question.”

“So, Sam and Natasha doesn’t have to go on this. The four of us will do.” Dean stated immediately.

“What? What the hell are you saying?” Sam exclaimed indignantly.

“I will go. Sam will stay.” Natasha interjected firmly.

“Seriously? You too?” Sam turned his glare on her.

“You are not going, Sam!” both Natasha and Dean shouted at him making him flinch and stare at them in shock.

“Come on, guys, I can’t just stay here while you go-“

“You will die, Sam!” Natasha growled as she looked at him like he was crazy. Sam was about to argue again but she shouted again. “If you come, you will die! I am not letting that happen! You hear me? This will not happen!”

Sam just stared back at her in shock, a pained look itched on his face.

“You are not coming, Sam. I mean it.” Dean said firmly, daring him to argue.

“Well, Natasha can stay behind too. Because I will go with you.” Erik interjected calmly as he trailed his eyes over them.

Everyone turned to look at him in surprise, but he didn’t seem to be fazed at all.

“Sorry, he meant ‘we’.” Charles added as he gestured towards himself and Erik, managing to shock them even more. Erik just clinched his fists at Charles words, but didn’t comment. Obviously, they had discussed that decision earlier after Steve left them alone, and Erik lost his argument against Charles then.

“What are you saying?” Tony blinked at the both of them in surprise.

“It is logical if you thought about it.” Charles shrugged calmly as he looked back at them. “I will be able to help with closing the path. Erik can help with his powers, if we faced any of the invaders before we close it. You know I am right.”

“Charles, I don’t think-“

“Tony.” The telepath interrupted, giving the genius a meaningful look. _‘Erik will die if he stayed here, and there is no possible way I will let him go without me’_ he projected to both Steve and Tony’s minds.

Steve and Tony shared a look, before sighing in defeat.

“Well, I guess that’s our team.” Steve decided tiredly.

“So, that’s it? You are going?” Bucky muttered in displeasure.

“This is the best plan we have for now, Buck.” Steve shrugged calmly but tiredly. “Besides, it’s a far chance that what happened in the mirror world will be repeated with us. Our histories were separated the moment other Cas came here.”

He kept sending worried glances towards Castiel, who hadn’t uttered a word since he came back from the hospital. He just stared down at his hands, ignoring Dean’s attempts to make him talk or at least look at him.

Steve called it a defense tactic, Cas was just retreating behind a wall of sorts to process all the emotions he was feeling. It’s a familiar tactic Steve used many times before. But it’s a wall that obviously Dean wasn’t liking being shut out of and Castiel was refusing to let Dean pass it for some reason.

“When are we leaving?” Dean asked tiredly, when he failed yet again to make Castiel address him.

“In six hours.” Steve answered after he looked down at his watch. “Which means we will have thirty hours before-“

He never got a chance to finish his sentence, because in the next second, a loud noise sounded from everywhere and something was exploding in his head that made him fall on his knees from the pain.

He could barely hear the panicked shouts around him and Tony’s frantic hands grabbing at him, he could only see Thor and Castiel also on their knees like him, with their lovers panicked next to them as well.

This could only mean one thing.

His eyes trailed up, even with how pained he was, to meet Castiel’s wide panicked eyes.

They knew what was happening.

It was the first Noise.

Something that was supposed to happen in another thirty six hours.


	21. Chapter 21

“That was the first attempted breach.”

Fury reported anxiously as he faced the team in the Tower.

“Same places and same frequency, everything the mirror angel said was accurate, except it happened thirty six hours earlier, and there is no doubt that it is the first breach. Do you know what this means?”

“It means there is a spy between us.” Castiel announced suddenly with a blank face, making everyone turn to him sharply with wide, shocked eyes.

“Cas, what are you saying?” Steve questioned with wide eyes.

“This is the only explanation for what happened.” Castiel explained firmly. “There is a spy between us, who sends our each move to the invaders regularly somehow, which made them try to breach our space earlier to stop us from jeopardizing their plans.”

They all stared at each other nervously, unable to find any fault in Castiel’s theory, but couldn’t bring themselves to accept it.

“You think one of us is a spy, Cas?” Tony asked carefully, Castiel’s words hurt him a little and he could tell that the others were too.

“No, I trust everyone here completely.” He shook his head firmly, making them relax a little. “Maybe someone is sending info without realizing or something, or maybe someone in SHIELD, I don’t know. But what I know is that it can’t be someone in this room.”

“This is a very serious accusation, Castiel.” Fury started nervously. “And very logical I am afraid.”

“Absolutely, since logically the invaders should have taken the same pattern they took in the Mirror world. They shouldn’t know about Mirror Castiel or what he told us, but what they are doing right now suggest that they know about him.” Charles stated with a frown.

“Not just that.” Steve added as he looked to be deep in thought. “They managed to hack our defenses and knew our pattern and decided to move faster than us to not lose the element of surprise.”

“We need to solve this fast.” Fury stated in frustration. “If we didn’t find that spy, it will manage to destroy us faster than that other world.”

“I don’t think there is enough time to check on and interrogate everyone we suspect in this few hours.” Natasha reported grimly.

“We can narrow it down.” Sam shrugged as he seemed to be thinking hard on something. “The spy must be in a high position that he could see classified reports about the Mirror Castiel and him arriving from the future of another universe, and knows how dangerous it is.”

“But who are you talking about are very few and I personally hand picked them. I trust them all.” Fury frowned in displeasure.

“Maybe one of them had been replaced?” Dean asked carefully.

“That’s impossible. Security and ID checkup had been updated, since the whole thing with Sydney Hunter.”

“But the spy couldn’t be outside of those people.” Clint objected nervously.

“I agree, but like I said, I trust them all completely.” Fury sighed then, as he made his way to the elevator. “Anyway, I will check our data in the main computer, I might find something.”

The moment he left, something clicked in Castiel’s head at the sentence he just said and his eyes widened in realization.

“Cas?” Dean asked carefully as he saw the look on his face.

The angel trailed an unseeing eyes towards Dean.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked in worry as everyone turned to look at Castiel in confused concern.

“I think I found out who the spy is.” The angel announced, making them all stare at him in shock.

***

“JARVIS?!”

Tony exclaimed indignantly, as he stared back at Castiel with wide eyes.

“Not just JARVIS.” Castiel continued firmly. Unbothered by the stares he was getting. “The computer itself is the invaders’ spy.”

“But how? I-I don’t get it.” Charlie looked at him in confusion.

“Computers became a very major thing in everyone’s lives. Everything is managed by it and it is everywhere, phones, laptops, anything. Connected together by the internet. It controls images, records, communications, transports, data, even air and military defense and launching rockets to space. You control it, you became aware of everything happening, anywhere around the world. You find any information you need to build a full picture of our world, that you will understand its nature, its people, its climate and even its insects.”

“Is that why you insist I shut down JARVIS and any tech thing in the room before you announce your point? You think there’s something that managed to infiltrate even JARVIS?” Tony asked nervously.

“Exactly. We don’t know yet how that electronic spy works, so we need to take precautions.”

“But how, Cas?” Dean asked in confusion, a little happy that his question managed to make Castiel meet his eyes. “How did they manage to control computers?”

“That’s what Tony will find out.” Castiel shrugged as he gestured towards the genius.

“Me?” Tony blinked at him, like he was deep in thought about something and was suddenly pulled out.

“Well, you are the genius here about these things.” Sam shrugged at him. “You will know how did that happen.”

“There’s several ways to do that.”

“You have five hours and a half to find that out.” Steve announced firmly. “Find it, control it and destroy it.”

“Five hours and half?! Can’t I have a little more time?” Tony looked back at him with wide eyes.

“I am afraid you can’t. This all the time we have, before we need to be in the shuttle and on our way towards the Stars Passage to close it.” he gave him a soft smile, as he took his hand gently. “I know you will manage to do it.”

“Well, I guess I have to start now.” Tony sighed as he leaned a little against his husband. “I am going to need some help to buy time. So, Bradbury, McCoy, Romanov and Winchester you are with me.”

“I don’t understand shit about computers, dude.” Dean sighed tiredly at him, but got up to his feet anyway with the others. Knowing there was no use to argue with the genius.

“Yeah, well, it’s a good time to learn then.” Tony just shrugged, he leaned in to press a kiss to Steve’s cheek, before making his way towards the door with his small computer team.

But then a loud beeping sound came from Natasha and Clint’s phones. They looked at it, only to for their faces to pale in panic.

“Uhm, Cas. I think you are needed in the hospital.” Natasha announced, as she glanced nervously at the angel.

“What happened?” Castiel shot up to his feet to stare at her intently.

“It’s the doppelganger, he is-he is-“

“Dying?” Dean asked impatiently but nervously.

“No. I don’t know! They say something weird is happening.” Clint answered in frustration. “You need to go before it’s over.”

Castiel rushed towards the closest window to fly there, but Dean grabbed his hand to stop him.

“Wait, I will come with you!” Dean stopped him urgently.

“No.” Castiel shook his head and pulled his hand away from Dean’s grip. “I am sorry, but I have to do this alone.” He looked up to meet his eyes, and Dean just stared back at the amount of pain he saw there. “Please, just-I have to do this alone.”

With that, he turned to open the window and jumped through it from the hundredth floor. They stared silently, holding their breaths, before they relaxed when they heard the ruffle of his wings.

Dean just kept staring at the place Castiel just vacated. Feeling helpless and useless.

***

Castiel saw a lot in his very long life.

He had been around since the beginning of creation, so when he says a lot he means _a lot._

Then he spent a decade on Earth and realized he still had things he was yet to see.

By now, nothing ever could surprise him anymore. A fact that always frustrates Dean, but he really thought he saw everything that could be seen.

But the only thing that he wasn’t prepared to see in all of his very long life, was seeing himself die.

Or rather, a mirror version of himself.

A version with the same history. Same mind. Same heart.

Same life.

But mirror reversed.

That’s why, the moment he entered the hospital room, that was full of SHIELD medics and scientists who just stared in panicked awe at the scene, he felt a cold shiver ran through his entire body.

His mirror self was laying on the bed, his face was so pale that you’d think he was dead, if not for the aura that was surrounding him. 

An aura that rippled around him softly in all the spectrum colors.

The moment he laid eyes on Castiel, he smiled weakly despite of all the pain and weakness he must be feeling.

“Hello there, my friend.” He whispered weakly. “Glad to know that I am not going to die completely alone.”

Castiel stepped closer whispering: “What happened?”

“Ask them.” he gestured weakly towards the doctors surrounding them.

Castiel turned to their head doctor, who sighed sadly as he answered. “He reached the point of irreversibility. His cells is reacting with our world and collapsing from the reverse state of this world. The collapse of his cells is what causing this aura around him. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“You don’t see someone from a mirror universe every day.” Castiel murmured, his eyes glued on his doppelganger.

“Did you understand what they are saying?” The other whispered with a pale, weak smile. “My life in your world is ending, before I could find a way to save mine.”

“Just don’t tire yourself with talking.” Castiel murmured gently. “Just-“

“Just let me talk. Silence will not prolong my life here, but it might prolong yours.” Castiel frowned in confusion, as the other continued. “I might have failed to save my world from being destroyed, but who knows? Maybe I will manage to help you save yours.” He turned to look at the doctors. “Can you give us a moment to talk alone?”

“Of course, son. Of course.” Their head doctor nodded and gestured for everyone to leave.

The moment they were all out, Mirror Castiel turned to look at him.

“Thank you. For not bringing him with you.” he whispered gratefully. “It’d have been too much.”

“I know.” Castiel murmured sadly, understanding who he was talking about.

“Now, shut all these machines.”

Castiel hesitated. “Some of these machines are what keeping you alive.”

“And some of them is allowing the invaders to hear us.” The other stated firmly.

“You found out about that?” Castiel stared at him in surprise.

“I bet you that we both found out at the same moment.” He smiled weakly up at him. Before he started to pant weakly.

“I told you that silence might-“

“It doesn’t matter anymore, come on, shut the machines.” He said in frustration. “Hurry, I am getting weaker.”

Castiel hesitated again, before moving to shut off the switch of the machines, then turned back to his double. “I did it.”

He closed his eyes for a second weakly before opening them again. “Did you find the answers of the questions?”

“Not yet.”

“I did.”

“Really?” Castiel’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You will too, my friend. But I managed to first, because I saw everything with my own eyes.” He then tried hard to raise his head from the bed to add. “That helped me to understand.”

Castiel noticed the aura around his double weakening slowly. “I am turning the machines back on.”

The other’s hand shot up to grip Castiel’s rest weakly. “No, don’t let them know we understood everything. Listen first.” He panted hard. “All of this is not real, Castiel.”

“What do you mean?” Castiel asked in confusion.

“Don’t let them fool you.” he answered, voice getting weaker with the aura. “That’s what they are good at. See their truth, not what they seem to be. They’re not giants, my friend. They’re-“

He couldn’t finish his words, his eyes widened as the words seemed to stuck in his throat. The aura almost disappeared from around him, that Castiel yelled as he jumped to switch the machines back on. “No! Don’t give up! Hold on!” the other’s head collapsed on the pillow, his eyes were still wide. Castiel rushed outside the room shouting. “Help him! He is collapsing! Please!”

Doctors rushed into the room to surround the bed and checked on the machines, that all indicated zero sign of life, even with the obvious shiver in the other’s body as he whispered repeatedly, eyes glued to Castiel’s face: “Illusion. Just illusion.”

Castiel stared back, frozen, as he glued himself to the wall to stay out of the doctors’ way. He didn’t say anything, just remain frozen as he stared.

Suddenly, the other’s hand shot up again with sudden strength and held on to Castiel’s wrest and raised his head to stare directly at his eyes.

“After you save your world. One day, you will find a way to go to my world at a right time. Promise me. Promise me, Castiel, that you will do your best to-to-“

He couldn’t finish his words, Castiel felt a cold shiver racking his entire body as he placed a hand over the other’s, understanding what he was trying to say.

“I promise.” He whispered fervently. 

The other’s eyes closed in overwhelming relief, as he let his head collapse against the pillow.

“Thank you, my friend.” He murmured weakly, the smile still on his face.

With that, he started to glow with bright white light that made everyone close their eyes from its intensity, and covered their ears from the ringing sound that burst in the room.

Castiel just stared unflinchingly.

Then the light faded away.

The eyes opened to see the empty body. With scorched wings that marked the bed, the floor and part of the wall.

Indicating the end of Mirror Castiel’s life.

Then Castiel collapsed to his knees. Unable to handle all of this anymore.


	22. Chapter 22

No one said anything, as they stood in the forest close to the bunker, watching the flames eating away two bodies.

No one said anything, when Castiel returned from the hospital, pale, broken and looking twenty years older than he really was. 

No one said anything, as Tony arranged everything to take both bodies from the hospital.

And no one said anything, when they all got on the Quinjet with the bodies, so they could cremate them properly by the Bunker.

They were all standing silently, eyes glued to the flames. Unable to look away.

Words couldn’t describe what they were feeling in that moment. Watching the flames taking two heroes, who were trying to save their world.

But they failed after everything they lost, and they wasted away with their world.

Castiel was a few feet ahead of them, sitting on the ground, knees hugged into his chest as he watched the flames unflinchingly. Tears slowly trailing down his cheeks.

They all didn’t know how to approach him. Didn’t know what kind of comfort he needed in that moment.

Because there was no way this can be comforted. This was too much, even on the angel.

The Angel they all believed to be invincible, but no one could face that and remain standing tall and strong.

Dean kept staring hard at Castiel’s hunched back. An internal fight inside him. Every part of him was screaming at him to rush towards Castiel, clutch into him and never let go, hold on to him until the pain inside him goes away. But a small part was holding him back, because if Castiel pulled away from him right now, it will destroy him even more. He didn’t know if he can handle that.

He trailed his eyes towards his family and almost regretted it.

Everyone insisted to come. Refusing to leave them alone in this. No one really wants to be alone at this moment.

Steve and Tony were standing very close, like they were seeking every ounce of comfort they could get. Hands clasped together tightly.

Erik was standing frozen, but the way he was gripping Charles’ hand in his showed how he truly feels, while the telepath just stared at the flames, tears slowly falling down his cheeks.

Sam had his arm around Natasha’s shoulders, while she wrapped hers around his waist, gripping each other tightly as they watched the scene brokenly.

Bruce and Thor. Wilson and Bucky. Raven and Charlie. Each one held to his loved one. Afraid of letting go. Afraid of losing. Afraid of ending up in the same fate.

Logan. Clint. Hank. Rhodey. Even though they have no one to hold on to then, they stood with pain on their faces. Afraid for their family. Afraid of the future.

A future that if not altered, they will not live for the end of the week. Them and everyone they ever knew or loved.

It will all be gone.

“What do you normally say in moments like this?” Natasha whispered softly, breaking the cloud of silence that trailed around them from New York to here.

“We say goodbye.” Sam replied sadly and brokenly, tightening his arm around her. “And thank you. Thank you for trying. Even though they failed to save their world, they will always be remembered in saving ours.”

“I’d say they are at peace but that will be a lie.” Clint whispered bitterly. A pained look on his face. “Everyone that were lost would be together, but will always miss one angel who could never be with them.”

“They didn’t deserve that ending.” Steve whispered brokenly, tears falling down his cheeks, he pulled Tony closer to him. “No one in that world deserved such an end.”

Unable to hold back anymore, Dean found himself marching towards Castiel and dropping next to him on the ground.

Castiel turned towards him slowly and just stared back at him, seeming to be looking right through him. They just kept staring at each other for what felt like hours, and Dean thought for a minute there that Castiel will look away any second to shut him out again, leaving Dean behind, broken hearted yet again.

But then Castiel’s face crumbled suddenly, unable to hold the wall around his emotions up anymore, and in the next moment, his face was buried in Dean’s chest, sobbing into it as he wrapped his arms around the hunter tightly, who in return wrapped his around the angel just as tightly as he let his own tears free. Allowing himself to breakdown with his angel.

Dean looked up when he felt a movement, only to see Steve and Tony dropping on the ground next to Castiel, leaning against him as they let their pain overcome them too. Soon, Sam and Natasha dropped behind Dean and Castiel, also leaning against them. Erik carried Charles from his chair, so they could drop next to Dean and do the same.

Soon, everyone dropped to the ground, surrounding the both of them in a tight circle. Leaning against them, giving silent comfort as they took some as well. They all held on to each other in a pile of bodies sitting incredibly close together. Not caring about personal space or comfort zones or boundaries. They just huddled against each other, seeking comfort to push away the pain.

No one commented about the fact that it was the first time they ever saw Castiel cry. No one mentioned Logan’s tears. No one was surprised about Erik’s own breakdown.

No one cared about being judged, and no one even thought about judging anyone. They just broke down together. 

That was probably one of the best family moments in Dean’s life. Knowing they weren’t alone anymore. Their family was here and it was bigger than ever.

Their family will face this with them, because they were in this together.

He tightened his arms around Castiel, as they all looked back at the flames.

The flames that was announcing the end of a world. The end of a love story that deserved better. The end of other love stories that ended far too soon. Stories that didn’t get a chance or enough time. Stories that deserved a better ending.

Their stories. Their world. Were threatened by the same end. The same flames.

Dean closed his eyes as he buried his face into Castiel’s hair.

For the first time in forever, Dean was scared.

But he wasn’t alone.

Not anymore.

***

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly, as he made his way towards his and Tony’s room in the bunker.

They decided to stay in the bunker until they find out how did the invaders infiltrate them, since the Bunker didn’t have much tech in it. Thankfully, all of this happened before Tony had gone through with his plan of making an AI specifically for the Bunker like JARVIS back in the Tower. He was going to make her a female named Chevy and also add her in Dean’s car, just to enjoy the hunter’s reaction.

That seemed a thousand years ago. Before all of this pain pushed itself inside their lives.

Fury wasn’t exactly happy about their sudden departure to Kansas. Kept shouting about the fact they were supposed to be on a space shuttle in two hours and a half, but they didn’t care.

They only cared about giving Mirror Dean and Castiel a proper farewell. They didn’t deserve to be stored in a morgue until they try to save their world. It wasn’t right. Not after everything they went through.

Castiel was in a terrible shape. He didn’t utter a word since he returned from the hospital and still didn’t speak after their group breakdown earlier in front of the burning bodies.

Steve honestly didn’t know what to do anymore or what to worry about first. Worry about the withdrawn Castiel, or for their approaching suicidal mission to space, or about his team that they will leave behind and might suffer the same fate as the others in the mirror world, if they weren’t fast enough.

Or the fact that him and Tony also didn’t make it in the Mirror World. Their own story ended tragically too. If they failed, they will both die too.

Steve was now certain of one thing, if he died, Tony will die with him, no matter what he did, Tony will make sure of that. And he didn’t want him to die. 

The same thing will happen if the roles reversed. He will not live a day over Tony either.

He pushed open the door’s room with a sigh, only to be surprised to find Tony there, sitting on the foot of the bed.

“Tony? You okay?” he asked in worry as he stepped closer. “I thought you were with your computer team, looking for the spy.”

“They are working. I will join them in a moment.” Tony murmured, not looking up at him. “I just-I needed-I needed a moment. With you.”

Steve knelt on the floor in front of him and cupped his face gently, to urge him to meet his eyes.

They stared into each other’s eyes, unable to look away. Afraid the other might disappear if they did.

Tony raised his hand to trail his fingers down Steve’s face gently and lightly.

“I love you.” Tony whispered softly, touching him like he was the most precious thing he ever touched. “I never thought, in my entire life, that I will be able to love anybody this much. That I am incapable of such feelings. But then you waltzed in with your stupid, beautiful face, your stubbornness, your sass and dry humor, your beautiful heart and stupid righteousness, and I was lost. You ruined me, Steve. You ruined everything I thought about myself. Ruined everything I hate about myself. Made it better. You made everything better. Everything. That I am incapable of ever living without your constant, huge presence. Incapable of living a day without you. You ruined me, and I love you for it.”

Steve gave him a wet smile, as tears started to fall slowly down his face as he stared adoringly at his husband.

“I loved you since I saw you back in the forties.” Steve whispered as he wiped Tony’s own tears with his thumb gently. “I know it was only three days then. But you made me feel things I never felt my entire life. I was drawn to every movement you made, every word you said, drawn in a way I never did for anyone before. And I waited since the moment you left. I waited for you. Waited for the day when we finally really meet. Waited for you to be mine.” He smiled as he pressed his forehead against Tony’s. “I got on that plane. Knowing it will somehow take me to you. You are the only thing that kept me sane all those years. You are my rock. My all firsts. My Soulmate.” He pressed a soft kiss against his lips. “You are my sure thing.” He drawled in a thick Brooklyn accent, earning a wet smile from Tony.

“Don’t die, Steve.” Tony closed his eyes as he took a shaky breath. “Just-don’t die. Please. Don’t do this to me.”

Steve closed his eyes, as he pressed another kiss to his lips.

“I won’t.” he whispered softly against his lips. “We will win. We will live. We will have our future. We will, Tony. I promise you.”

***

Erik was moving erratically around Charles in the kitchen, making a huge pile of sandwiches like his life depended on it.

One of the very surprising things about Erik, is that he acquired the habit of cooking whenever he feels upset, stressed or sad. A way of making himself busy without hurting anyone accidently by his powers.

It usually helps, but obviously not working right now, seeing the alarmingly increasing mountain of sandwiches he was making. 

Charles could hear his erratic mind. Erik never blocked him out, even in his most distressing moments.

All of what was happening, completely crumpled Erik’s normally composed appearance.

It crumpled all of them, really.

Erik stopped when he opened the fridge again, only to find it empty. He stood there, staring at it accusingly for a few seconds that Charles was seriously worried about the fridge being turned into a pile of metal any second.

“Why don’t they keep enough food in their fridges anymore?” he growled in frustration before shutting the fridge’s door a little too forcibly and moved to get his coat. “I will go to get more-“

“Erik.” Charles sighed as he grabbed his hand as he was passing by, to pull him into a seat on the kitchen table, and raised an eyebrow at him. “Stop making food and sit right here.”

Erik sat just when Clint entered the kitchen and his eyes landed on the Sandwich Mountain. “Food! That’s exactly what I need.”

“Touch that and you are dead.” Erik growled with a glare at Clint, who froze mid-reach towards the mountain.

“Take whatever you want, Clint.” Charles sighed and gave Erik a meaningful look, while he kept glaring at Clint.

The archer hesitated for a second, before his hunger won, and took a sandwich and rushed out of the kitchen, while keeping his eyes on Erik in case he decided to strike.

Charles cupped Erik’s face gently and moved it so he could meet his eyes. The metal binder immediately relaxed a little when his eyes met Charles’.

“Are you still mad that I insisted to come with you on that mission?” Charles whispered gently, as he let his thumbs caress Erik’s cheekbones softly.

“No. I-I don’t know.” He sighed as he leaned towards his touch. “I am not mad, Charles. I am scared.”

“Of losing?”

“Of losing you.” Erik corrected softly as he looked at Charles deeply. “My job is protecting you. That will always be my priority. I can’t leave you here without knowing if you will be safe or suffer the same fate of mirror you but sooner. The only people I trust them with your safety are all going on that mission. Sadly, the safest place you will be, is with me and them.”

“You know I am not that helpless, right?” Charles raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes, I am in a wheelchair, but I am far from being helpless and fragile, Erik.”

“Just-just let me.” Erik sighed as he closed his eyes, a pained look on his face. “Let me protect you. I-I have no other way of living. The constant need of making sure you are safe and happy. It’s what keeps me sane, Charles.”

Charles watched him sadly for a few seconds, thumbs still caressing Erik’s face.

“You must regret that you came back to me all those years ago.” Charles murmured sadly, feeling his heart clinching painfully. “Having to deal with all of this. Having me burden you like that. Your life would have been much easier if you stayed away, with much less pain. You could have a family with children of your own. Not here dealing with all of this.”

Erik’s eyes opened to stare at him with wide eyes like he was crazy.

“Charles, what-what the hell are you saying? How can a genius like you become this stupid?” he took hold of Charles’ hands on his face, to take them in his and held them tightly. “I never once regretted coming back to you. Never. The only thing I ever regretted was leaving you. Leaving after what I did.” He gently nudged Charles’ chin to make him meet his eyes. “Charles, there’s no place in the world I’d rather be in right now. My place, is by your side. Wherever you are. You are my home. My family. The only thing I ever want is to keep you safe and by my side.” He leaned down to press a kiss on each knuckle of Charles’ hands. “I love you, liebling. More than anything. More than myself. I’d readily die for you. You know that by now and it was proven in that other world.”

“That’s the problem, Erik.” Charles snapped suddenly, snatching his hands away as tears slowly started falling down his cheeks. “I don’t want you to die for me. I never wanted that. What makes you think that I could live without you? You don’t think I am willing to do anything to not lose you? You know how much I love you, then why isn’t it getting in your head that I want you alive?” he took a deep shuddering breath, trying to calm down a little. Erik was watching him with wide, stunned eyes. “I don’t want you to die for me.” He repeated softly. “I want you to live for me.”

Erik watched him silently, eyes still wide and stunned, before gently taking Charles’ face in his hands to wipe away his tears with his thumbs.

“Okay.” he whispered softly, as he rested his forehead against Charles’.

“Okay?” Charles asked hopefully, as he leaned against him.

“Okay.” Erik repeated with a small smile and a soft kiss against his lips. “I will live for you, liebling.”

***

Dean and Castiel were in their room, sitting on the floor with their backs against the bed.

They were glued to each other since they left the forest, leaving the ashes behind. Unable to stay apart anymore. Unwilling to make any distance between them.

They didn’t say anything. They just sat there, so close to each other that Dean was almost in Castiel’s lap. Hands clasped tightly between them.

Castiel still was shutting him out of their bond, which was making Dean tense and on edge. Expecting Castiel to run out of the room and leave him with to deal with this pain on his own.

The image of their doppelganger’s bodies lying side by side on that pyre, haunts Dean every time he closed his eyes.

For years, he thought that their end will be bloody and tragic, considering the way of their lives. He knew their end will be together. Because there was no way if one of them died before the other and didn’t try to bring the other back. That’s just a fact.

But then, he met Sydney. Their grandkid. Who they will live long enough to see her becoming an amazing, smart, badass woman. They will have a daughter. A daughter that apparently will take the best in both of them. Becoming a beautiful women that will fall in love with Tony and Steve’s incredibly smart kid. They were going to see all of that.

At least that what was supposed to happen anyway.

So, seeing their doppelgangers’ future being stripped away from them so brutally like that, it left Dean reeling and unable to control what he was feeling anymore.

He was scared. Terrified even.

He didn’t want to lose all of this. Didn’t want to lose his family. Didn’t want Castiel to die alone.

He didn’t want that future.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a gentle tug on his hand. He looked up to see Castiel looking at him in worry. Only to realize that there were tears covering his face that he didn’t feel till now.

He can’t deal with this on his own.

“Please.” He whispered brokenly as he leaned heavily against Castiel’s body. “Please, don’t-don’t shut me out.”

A pained look crossed Castiel’s face, before he nodded with a shuddered breath.

Dean felt an overwhelming relief, when he suddenly could feel Castiel in him again as the bond reopened. He could feel the angel’s presence deep inside him again. Could feel his erratic emotions. His pain, his grief, his fear. Everything.

He sighed as he closed his eyes, trying to figure out which feeling belonged to him and which belonged to Castiel. Loving every second of it even with all the pain and fear there.

Because this bond was there for years now. He couldn’t remember how he lived without it before. Being shut out of it this long almost broke him.

“I am sorry.” Castiel whispered brokenly, unable to look at Dean. “I was trying to keep you away from feeling all of this. Dean, I-“ he swallowed heavily and closed his eyes in pain. “I am afraid. The moment I heard his story, I felt an overwhelming fear and pain rake through my body. I didn’t know how to deal with it. Never felt it that intensely before. I didn’t want-I didn’t want to make you feel it with me. I wanted to spare you this much pain. Forgetting in the process that you were feeling the same things and I made it worse by shutting you out.”

Dean watched him for few a seconds, before moving so he was straddling Castiel’s lap, and raked his fingers through his hair gently to make him open his eyes to meet his.

“When shit happens, and everything seemed to be falling apart, we don’t shut each other out and try to deal with it on our own, okay?” he said sternly, but kept raking his fingers through his angel’s hair soothingly. “We don’t do that anymore. That always managed to ruin things even more. It never solved or did anything, except making each other miserable.” He leaned forward to rest his forehead against Castiel’s. “We are married. We are bonded. We deal with everything together. We are one. Your pain is my pain. That’s how things are now. So, don’t you dare to do this to me again, you son of a bitch or you will spend the rest of our married life on a couch.”

Castiel was staring at him the entire time he was talking, a warm look in his eyes that Dean was missing the past days. It pulled at his heart and he felt himself leaning even closer to the angel’s body involuntarily. 

Okay, maybe he won’t be able to withhold that threat forever, but Castiel didn’t need to know that.

Or maybe he already did, judging from the warm smile he was giving Dean.

The first smile he saw on the angel’s face for awhile now. God, he missed it.

“I love you.” Castiel murmured softly, raising his hand to trail his fingers down the side of Dean’s face gently. The hunter leaned against the touch. “Everything I ever do, I do it for you. You worth fighting for. Always was and always will be.” He pressed a deep kiss against his lips, leaving Dean breathless. “You are home. And I will fight to keep my home safe.”

“_We_, Cas.” Dean whispered, as he poked Castiel in the chest in warning. “We will fight.”

“We.” Castiel corrected as he wrapped his arms around Dean to pull him close. “We will fight. We will win. We will have our future back.”

“Yeah, _We_.” He murmured, pulling Castiel into another kiss. “It will always be a ‘_We’_, Cas. Don’t ever forget that.” 


	23. Chapter 23

“How are you doing?”

Steve asked Castiel with a small gentle smile, as he sat next to him on the map table.

They were alone for now. Tony, Dean, Charlie, Hank and Natasha headed into one of the rooms to work on finding the spy. Logan, Thor, Clint and Bucky were loading some boxes Tony brought with them from the jet to the bunker, claiming it was important. Sam, Bruce and Charles were in the library, but Steve wasn’t sure what they were doing. Raven decided she will have some ‘alone time’, which he didn’t completely understand to be honest. Erik was walking around with a tray of Sandwich Mountain, feeding anyone that comes in his path forcefully. Steve had ate five sandwiches by now under Erik’s glare that he was trying not to cross his path anymore. Rhodey and Wilson had to return to New York, but they will meet with the others again when the six of them leave for their mission.

Castiel returned his smile, which was progress, considering his state the past days.

“If I said I am fine, I will be lying.” He answered Steve’s question honestly, which shocked Steve, since he was expecting him to shut down again. “But I am getting there.”

“I know that all of that was hard on you. Hell, on all of us.” Steve sighed then placed a hand on Castiel’s shoulder to squeeze it gently. “But you should know that you are not alone in this. We are all here. We will all share the burden and handle this. You know that, right?”

“Yes, I know.” Castiel nodded as he looked at him gratefully. “Thank you, Steve.”

Steve just patted his shoulder, then leaned back in his chair. “What are you doing here on your own?”

“Hiding from Erik.” Castiel looked behind him to make sure that the mutant wasn’t in earshot. “He keeps pushing sandwiches into my face whenever he took a glimpse of me. When I try to protest, he glares and I feel every metal in the area pointing at me, so I have no choice but to eat.”

“I swear, that man change into a completely different person when he is around Charles.” Steve chuckled with a shake of his head. “He becomes sweet and gentle, then he turns to one of us, immediately his face changes into a default glare. It’s sweet and scary at the same time.”

“We all have a part that we keep solely for our significant others.” Castiel smiled a little, just a ghost of a smile on his face, but Steve will take it. “I guess Erik only has three parts or so and keeps diverting between them on regular basis.”

“What’s the third part?”

“The part that can make a genocide if he got angry enough, but I guess he is locking that part for now.”

“As in ‘keeping it locked until someone laid a hand on Charles’, right?”

“Precisely.”

“I am pretty sure that part is in all of us as well.” Steve chuckled a little, managing to get another smile from Castiel, who didn’t argue with his sentence.

They both almost jumped, when Erik appeared out of nowhere to slam the tray of Sandwich Mountain on the table and threw himself on one of the chairs with a huff.

“Are these sandwiches reproducing?” Steve frowned at the mountain in confusion. “They are not decreasing no matter how many sandwiches you eat.”

“I might have gotten a little carried away.” Erik sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. “I cook when I am stressed or pissed. With everything going on, you can hardly blame me for this small mountain.”

“Your coping mechanism is way better than mine.” Castiel commented with a sigh, as he reached to take a sandwich.

“Which is a very shocking thing, by the way.” Steve added with a small smile.

They heard the Bunker’s door opening, then saw Team Hard Labor getting down the stairs carefully, while each carrying large, heavy metal boxes. They were cursing and huffing as they tried to come down the stairs without falling on their faces.

Erik was watching them intently, until the four of them reached the bottom of the stairs, each one with his box, then he raised his hand calmly towards them.

Everyone watched dumbly as the boxes flew from their hands like they were weightless, until they landed lightly next to the map table. Erik blinked back at them innocently.

“Seriously? You couldn’t have done that a little earlier?” Bucky panted as he glared at Erik.

“Where is the fun in that?” The metal binder shrugged calmly as he reached towards the tray. “Food?”

They stared back at him indignantly for a second, before their hunger won, and they were pretty much running to snatch the tray from Erik’s hands.

They sat on the floor in a circle, the tray in the middle, as they ate like there was no tomorrow.

“Well, at least the Sandwich Mountain will be gone now.” Steve murmured as he watched them.

“Why did Tony bring all those boxes?” Castiel asked in confusion, as he trailed his eyes towards the large four boxes.

“They are probably our gear and uniforms. Ready for our mission.” Steve sighed as he glanced towards the boxes too. “I am not entirely sure what’s in-“

He was interrupted by Tony rushing into the room excitedly, followed by Team Computer.

“Guys, we found it! We found the spy!” he exclaimed excitedly, making everyone stop and look at him.

Hearing what was going on, Team Library trudged in to listen to what Tony will say.

“What is it then?” Steve asked carefully as he focused completely on what Tony will say.

“It’s a computer virus.” He announced with a grin.

“That’s it?” Clint exclaimed in surprise, mouth filled with food.

“Don’t underestimate it, dude.” Charlie raised an eyebrow at him. “This is one of the most advanced viruses I ever seen. It tells how genius its maker is. It can hide in a very clever way that even JARVIS couldn’t sense it, when it made itself comfortable inside his system. It can get inside the main system of any computer and stay hidden without being noticed by any antivirus.”

“Then how did you discover it?” Thor asked in confusion.

She gestured towards Tony, who shrugged and said: “I used a new program.” Then frowned. “But still it wasn’t easy.”

“Good. You found it. Can you destroy it in the time we have until we need to leave for the mission?” Steve questioned with a look down at his watch.

“You mean before you go to get yourselves killed.” Bucky muttered angrily.

Steve send him a stern glare, before looking back at Tony. “Can you?”

“The problem is not in time.” Tony frowned in frustration.

“Then in what?” Charles asked carefully.

“It’s not just a smart virus. It’s genius. If it wasn’t for my attempts to turn around it and convince it that I was just doing a routine check, it would have reacted badly and-“

He hesitated for a second.

“And what?” Steve asked in concern.

“And destroy our whole computer system.” He continued with a sigh.

“We must have a defense system that deals with smart viruses.” Sam stated with a frown.

“We do.” Charlie confirmed with a nod. “But as Tony said, it’s a genius virus and totally new, never been tested or studied before. The remaining time is not enough to do the needed tests before we attack it.”

Castiel seemed to be in deep thought the whole time, Dean was watching him carefully, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

“I think I have a way we can test it in a few minutes.” Castiel announced suddenly, looking up at Tony.

“What is it?” Tony glanced at him in interest.

“To attack the virus directly.” He stated firmly.

They turned to him in surprise.

“But what if-“ Charlie started but he interrupted.

“That will finish it fast.”

“Or will destroy our computer system.”

“I don’t think that will happen.” He shook his head stubbornly.

“How can you be so sure?” Dean questioned curiously, moving so he was standing close to the angel, who immediately reached out to pull him closer the moment he was in arm’s reach.

“The same reason I told you before.” He started to explain. “Because computers control everything in our lives, that if the computer systems was destroyed it will paralyze us completely, including our attack and defense systems. If the invaders could manage to do that, they won’t have hesitated to do it. True, their virus could be called a genius in hiding and disappearing, but his maker obviously knows it won’t stand a chance against a direct attack, so they use it only as a spy, to send them information, and not as a weapon against our systems.”

They all stared at him in awe with wide eyes.

“That actually makes complete sense.” Steve uttered in wonder.

“You have no idea.” Tony grinned at Castiel excitedly. “I will start right now.”

He was about to sprint out of the room, but Sam stopped him.

“Hey, where’s Nat?” he asked in confusion, while looking around. “I thought she was with you.”

“She was, but I send her to New York with a new Virus Free system for the space shuttle, so SHIELD could replace it before we go.” He answered fast, before pulling Charlie and continued his way out of the room.

Sam stood still for a moment, before leaving the room too. Probably to call Natasha.

“That was pretty genius, Baby.” Dean murmured with a proud smile, as he leaned down to press a kiss on top of his head.

“Thank you.” Castiel flushed a little at Dean’s praise.

“See? We will be able to face them.” Steve grinned as he nudged his shoulder against Castiel’s.

“I can imagine their metal faces when they realize that you discovered their spy’s secret.” Clint laughed loudly. “The spy that they thought was their first line of defense and couldn’t be discovered, and-“

“Shit.” Castiel interrupted suddenly, as he shot up to his feet fast, almost knocking Dean to the floor if he didn’t caught him hurriedly, even with how distracted he was.

“Cas? What is it?” Steve asked in worry as he got up to his feet too.

But Castiel pushed away from him suddenly and sprinted out of the room fast, making everyone stare behind him with wide confused eyes.

***

The scientist responsible for the shuttle stood there glaring hard at Natasha.

“What is the meaning of this, agent?” he shouted sharply. “Why reprogram the whole shuttle, if its systems works perfectly fine?”

Natasha placed a small box in front of him that contained a flash drive that Tony gave her to reprogram the shuttle.

“I have my reasons.” She stated firmly.

“And what are those reasons? And by whose orders?”

She pulled out a paper and presented it to him.

“This is a direct order from Director Fury.” She stated just as firmly. “As for our reasons, not your business.” She looked around for a second. “This needs to only take one hour and without using any external tech, no matter how important it is.”

“What is this? Is Stark testing us or something? We are not up to his high standards?” he yelled in frustration at his face.

“Do your orders.” She stated sternly, her cold expression not flinching for even a second. She looked down at her watch. “If you want my advice, I suggest you start immediately. Time flies fast.”

With that, she turned on her heels and left the room, ignoring his angry glares.

For a few seconds, he just stood there boiling in anger.

“Fucking Stark and his fucking arrogance.” He spat in rage as he snatched the box. “Always finds a way to fuck with people and push them to their limits.”

He shook his head as he pulled the new Stark laptop Natasha brought closer to start working.

“Fucking hell.” He cursed when he saw the blank desktop. “What, am I supposed to program the new computer first then use it to reprogram the shuttle? Seriously?” his eyes trailed towards his usual computer, a few feet away from him, then smirked slyly. “Well, they will never know the difference.”

***

“Everything will go just fine, with the shuttle’s systems reprogrammed."

Natasha stated in relief as she talked to Sam while she was flying her small jet to return back to the Bunker. “With the systems replaced, their spy will be gone, and Space Team will be able to do their mission without the invaders’ knowledge.”

Sam sighed tiredly and she trailed her eyes over his stressed face in the holoscreen.

“I still think we should be going with them.” he stated with a frown.

“Sam, we talked about this.” She murmured as she raised an eyebrow at him. “If we go and faced those invaders in any way, you will die. You are not allowed to do that to me, you know?”

“It’s my brother and brother in law, Nat.” he whispered, looking pained and frustrated. “They are my family, I can’t just-I can’t just stay behind here, leaving them to deal with all of this, while not knowing if they will ever make their way back.” 

“They are my family too, Sam.” She murmured softly, giving him a gentle look. “I hate this. You have no idea how much I hate this, but you have to admit that Erik and Charles are far more useful than us with them.”

“Yeah, that’s probably right.” he muttered bitterly, he was silent for a few seconds, she waited, knowing he was gathering his thoughts before saying what he was thinking. “Do you think there is hope?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed sadly, her lips pulled down in a frown. “I really don’t know. The only hope we can cling to right now, is that they will go to that mission under the invaders’ noses, who will not know about their destination.”

“What if they knew?” he asked in worry.

She bit her lower lip before answering. “It will be a disaster.” She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “If they knew about the mission, they will do everything to stop it, no matter the cost.”

“No matter the cost?”

“Yes, Sam. Because if the team accomplished their mission, it means that the Stars Passage will be closed on the invaders’ faces forever, which will also means, no invasion. I don’t think those fuckers will handle that.”

“They are robots.”

“Thinking robots. Don’t forget that. With a very bloody purpose, to wipe out any sign of life in whatever planet they reach.”

“I have no idea why would they have such a purpose.” He frowned anxiously. “You still didn’t tell me what you expect if they knew about the mission.”

She pursed her lips. “The least they will do is attacking the team at the main entrance of the path.” Then she added in a small whisper. “And destroy them all.”

Sam stared back at her with wide horrified eyes.

“You were right.” he whispered shakily. “It will be a disaster.”


	24. Chapter 24

Tony’s fingers worked fast and efficiently on a holoscreen to get rid of the virus.

Hank and Charlie were watching him intently, holding their breath for anything to go wrong.

“Well, you son of a bitch, I hope you enjoy your last moments.” Tony smirked as he worked. “Because with one press, you are gone forever.” He raised his finger, ready to go for the kill. He glanced over at Charlie and Hank who nodded at him nervously but excitedly. “Goodbye, fucker.”

He was about to touch the button, but suddenly, Castiel crashed into the room so hard that the door fell uselessly to the floor, making all of them jump sharply and turn to him in panic.

Castiel was running frantically towards Tony, who took a step back in panic.

“Cas?! What?!“ he was stopped by Castiel jumping on him, then covered his mouth with his hand and pulling him away from the holoscreen so sharply, that they both fell to the floor hard.

Charlie gasped as she and Hank stepped back with wide eyes, just as Steve and Dean appeared in the doorway and took in the scene.

“Cas! What the hell are you doing?!“ Steve exclaimed indignantly, making a move towards them, but Castiel gestured at him to stay quiet as he pulled the shocked Tony to his feet with him, without removing his hand from over his mouth, their shock increased when he started to push the genius in front of him out of the room.

“What is he do-“ Hank started but Castiel turned to him with a glare that made him shut up.

Steve turned his indignant eyes towards Dean, asking silently for an explanation.

“I don’t know.” Dean whispered helplessly. “But he must have an explanation for this, okay?”

They all followed Castiel, who was still pushing Tony in front of him.

When they reached the war room, where the others were gathered and turned to him in surprise, Castiel finally pulled his hand off Tony’s mouth and released him.

Steve immediately rushed to Tony to pull him in his arms frantically, while he looked up at Castiel. “What the hell was this about?”

“I know what he was doing.” Tony panted as he patted Steve reassuringly to release his tension a little. Castiel looked at him in relief as everyone turned to Tony in question. “He was trying to stop me from ending the virus.”

“But why?” Dean asked in confusion. “Isn’t this what we want?”

“No, it was a mistake we were about to fall into.” Castiel shook his head firmly.

“What mistake?” Steve was staring at him in confusion, but he relaxed a little and pressed a shaking kiss to Tony’s head.

“Well, Clint made me realize it.” The angel gestured towards the Archer.

“Wait, me?!” Clint exclaimed as he stared at him in confusion.

“Yes, Clint, you.” the angel nodded in confirmation. “When you mentioned the invaders’ faces when they realize that we found their spy.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Erik raised an eyebrow as he watched Castiel carefully.

“I realized that when they know about this, it will enrage them, _if _they were a living creatures. The problem is that they are robots, so when they find out what happened, they will mechanically move to the next step, that might be an alternative spy that we know nothing about, or strike us as a punishment and many lives will be lost.” He trailed his eyes on their faces carefully. “So, what’s important now, is that their ignorance about our findings, will give us the perfect chance to use our knowledge.”

“How?” Charles asked curiously.

“By pretending that we know nothing about their spy and make them know what we want them to know.”

“I get it! We make their spy a double agent without them knowing and use it for our benefit!” Dean stated excitedly with a huge grin.

“Yeah, we will speak in a prepared script that will make them think we are thinking about surrendering.” Sam suggested.

“We need to make it convincing, since they must have a full picture of our personalities.” Charles stated with a small smile.

“We should do that before we go after them.” Steve agreed with a sigh, he looked up at Castiel, ashamed. “Cas, I am sorry. I-I walked into the room and saw you tackling Tony to the floor and I just panicked.”

“It’s quite alright, I’d have panicked too if the roles were reversed.” Castiel just gave him a small smile, but the soldier still looked apologetic.

“Yeah, but I should have trusted that you have a good reason.” Steve shook his head as he leaned towards Tony, who wrapped his arms around him gently. “I am so sorry, Castiel.”

Before Cas could answer, the Noise sounded so loud that the room seemed to be shaking.

Steve, Castiel and Thor screamed, as the pain exploded in their heads.

The others stared at each other with wide panicked eyes.

***

Everything was calm in Washington DC.

Life was going like it always did.

People hurrying to their jobs.

Cars driving down the street.

Passersby walking calmly on the sidewalk.

Then suddenly, The Noise started.

It started out of nowhere, like there was a raging battle behind the clouds.

Panicked, terrified eyes looked up towards the sky.

At the same moment, a crack appeared in the sky.

A huge black crack in the middle of the sky opened, from it appeared five strange looking battleships, which attacked everything that walked the Earth viciously.

The cars.

The motorcycles.

The animals.

Even the humans.

But then, seven Air Force fighter jets appeared and attacked the battleships.

Laser beams from both sides lighted up the sky.

The battleships took the same fighting tactic, two ships attacked the fighter jets, the other three attacked anything that moved, from cars to humans.

Laser beams were shot, taking lives of many people along with two of the fighter jets.

But the remaining five fought brutally.

Managing to bring down three battleships.

The other two moved towards the sky again just when the black hole reopened, but the fighter jets kept shooting at them and succeeded in bringing one of them down.

The last one reached the hole and disappeared along with it.

Everything went silent.

Even with the victory in the first battle, everything held the stink of death.

***

“Washington, Cairo, Marseille, Napoli, Manchester, Beijing, Leningrad, Sydney, Beirut, Buenos Aires, Brazil, Los Angeles. All of them took the same hit at the same moment. Just what Mirror Castiel had said. The only difference is, the early timing and the number of loses.”

Fury reported anxiously as they stared back at him through the holoscreen. “In each location, the attack only took thirty seconds, then the remaining battleships retreated after realizing that we knew the places of attack and were prepared to fight back. Not like what happened in the Mirror World.”

“Supposedly, they are not supposed to know what happened in the Mirror World.” Steve commented with a frown.

“But they know we know.” Fury huffed in frustration. “Even if they don’t, now they definitely know. It doesn’t make sense for us to wait for them at the locations of attack if we don’t know their plans.”

“Unfortunately.” Erik grimaced in frustration.

Fury turned to him indignantly. “Unfortunately?!”

“Yes, it’s bad they now know we know. That means they will change their plans and strategy, by choosing a new locations for attacks that we know nothing about, which will cause losses of lives and make things worse.”

“Well, isn’t this just great.” Dean sighed bitterly.

“We didn’t have a choice, Dean.” Natasha muttered with pursed lips, she had return a while ago just when the Noise started.

“Hopefully, that won’t make them change their location in The Stars Passage or place guards on the main entrance of the path to our world.” Castiel stated with a worried frown.

“I don’t think they will have enough time for that.” Tony shook his head after he thought about it. “They will never know our destination after the Shuttle’s systems were reprogrammed.” He turned to Natasha then. “You gave them the flash drive I gave you and the laptop, right?”

“Yes, they should be done with the reprogramming by now.” She nodded at him in confirmation.

“Then we will head out immediately to get this show on the road.” Steve announced as he stood up.

“I will be expecting you in thirty minutes.” Fury nodded at him before ending the call.

“Okay, Winchesters, Big Brain and Magnets, follow me I have something for each one of you.” Tony nodded at them as he made his way towards the large metal boxes. He shoved one at the Winchesters after opening it.

The three of them glanced inside and were surprised to see the super suits Mirror Castiel mentioned.

“Holy shit, you really made suits for us.” Dean exclaimed with wide eyes, while grabbing the dark green one that he knew it was his.

“Apparently, all Tonys in the Multi-verse hates your flannels.” Tony smirked at him as he enjoyed their wide eyed, excited looks.

“You borrow them from me sometimes!”

“They are comfy but ugly. Now, you two, go change so we can leave. Sam, take yours, you might need it.” he then shoved another box towards Erik and Charles, who just stared back at him blankly. He rolled his eyes and opened the box for them to see inside it.

“Wait, you made suits for us too?” Charles looked up at him in surprise. “But why?”

“Mostly for style purposes and not wanting you to get killed.” Tony raised an eyebrow at him. “The black with blue strikes one is for you, the other is for Magnets.”

“Is that pink?” Clint blinked as he stared at the metal suit in Erik’s hands.

“No, that’s Magenta. I thought it fits with the name Magneto, which I still find stupid by the way, and I totally think it could be your color.” Tony grinned at Erik’s blank face.

“I honestly don’t know if I should thank you or hit you.” he sighed in defeat and smiled a little down at the slightly heavy suit. “I do like the color.”

“Great! Now, Charles, I still have something for you.” Tony turned to another larger box, he opened it, only to reveal a very comfortable looking wheelchair. With no wheels.

They stared with wide eyes as Tony pressed a button on it that made the chair start to float up in the air on its own.

He turned to Charles with a grin. “I made this a while ago and was planning to give it to you as a birthday gift, but you will need it now more than ever. So, consider it as an early birthday present.”

“Tony, God, this is amazing.” Charles was staring at the chair with wide awed eyes. Erik wasn’t better as he stared gaping at it too. “Thank you! Just-thank you.”

“It has defense systems in it too.” Tony brushed out Charles’ thanks to point at a blue button in the arm rest. “This will make a protective invisible shield around you the entire time. I suggest you just to keep it on during this mission. I will tell you the rest of its benefits on the way, while I explain the Winchesters’ suits to them as well.”

“Thank you.” Erik whispered with a smile towards Tony. Gratitude filling his eyes. “Thank you, Tony.”

Tony just shrugged and met Steve’s proud smile as he watched, feeling his face flushing a little.

Erik leaned down to pull Charles into his arms, so he could sit him on the new chair.

Charles grinned happily as he moved around excitedly, making everyone look at him with a soft smile at his child-like glee.

“Now, you two go change.” Tony shooed them away with a soft smile.

“What does the last box contain?” Thor asked curiously.

“Steve’s suit and shield. I have my own suit right here.” Tony tapped the arc reactor on his chest.

“Then I should go and change too.” Steve sighed tiredly, pressing a kiss to Tony’s temple as he passed him. “We need to get this over with. Fast.” 


	25. Chapter 25

“From Captain Rogers to base, the engines are working perfectly and we are ready to take off.”

Steve said through the comms firmly, as he sat at the pilot seat in the small space shuttle, beside him sat Dean, right behind him Tony with Castiel beside him, then Erik and Charles at the back.

They all held on into their seats, as they prepared to go to space for the very first time.

“All preparation for takeoff are done, the countdown will start now.” A firm voice said from the comms. “Ten…Nine…Eight…Seven…”

The countdown continued and they all held their breaths as they held on even tighter to their seats.

“….Zero.”

With the last number, Steve pressed a big red button.

And the shuttle took off.

Its body raised from the ground, and then took off in a sharp right angle towards space.

Each one of them was lost deep in his own thoughts.

Dean was wondering if they will ever manage to return safely. Their goodbyes with the team was heartbreaking, especially Sam who grabbed both him and Castiel tightly, not wanting to let go. Dean jokingly told him to have a backup Best Man for his wedding, which was completely the worst thing he could say, since in the next moment Sam’s face broke and Natasha left the room with a look of pain on her face. He really need to learn when to keep his mouth shut.

Meanwhile, Tony was focusing hard in calculating and recalculating everything he needs to do to close the path. Stressing over everything, because this was their only shot. If it fails, they won’t get another chance. And failing was not an option. If they have any hope for a better future, this must work. He can’t fail his family and everyone he loves. Not now, not ever.

Steve was trying very hard to not think about anything as he breached The Stars Passage with their shuttle. Knowing that if he let himself think, he will get distracted and he couldn’t afford to be distracted right now. Everyone was depending on him to stay focused on their mission and not too busy having a panic attack.

Erik was gripping his seat tightly, trying to control his frayed nerves so he won’t accidently break the shuttle into two halves. That would be unpleasant, since he, sadly, cares about all the people inside this shuttle. He would never admit it out loud, but he came to care about them and the team back on Earth. He considered them family, but he’d rather die than say that loudly. So his nerves was getting out of place, fear for his family, fear for Charles. It was too much.

Meanwhile, Castiel’s brain was working fast to try to find the answers to the questions Mirror Castiel told him. His mind was working in every way possible but coming back with nothing, which frustrated him to no end. Mirror Castiel’s last words were repeating loudly in his head, trying to tell him something but he was still trying to understand it. Whatever it is, it might save their lives.

Charles was hearing all of this. Heard all their erratic minds and was grateful for that since he won’t be able to handle any silence in his mind then. Voices keep him sane. Keep him from breaking down from his own erratic thoughts. Four of them survived this mission in the Mirror World, so they had no idea if him and Erik will survive too. So he tries not to think about it and just focused on everyone’s voices in his head.

Then suddenly, the shuttle stopped after breaching The Stars Passage, which took them in a location one light year away from Earth.

Their vision was clouded for a few seconds, before everything became clear again as they watched the endless, dark space stretching around them calmly and foreboding.

“Are we in the right place?” Dean asked quietly, like he was worried to break the silence that surrounded them.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded as he checked the data in front of him. “This is the main entrance to our world.”

“Strange, I thought we might find those invaders here.” Erik commented as he looked around with a frown.

“I don’t think they are that stupid.” Tony shook his head as he immediately started to work on his tablet. “Don’t you remember Mirror Cas’ story? They are hiding away in another location in the Stars Passage’s network, and they don’t jump to the location of the attack unless it suits them.”

“Right.” Erik muttered, looking over to Charles, who was also working with his own tablet.

“I think the best thing we should do right now is that we start working immediately to close the passage and get this over with.” Tony stated as he worked fast.

“What are you going to do exactly?” Dean asked carefully, while throwing nervous looks around him, in case there was an attack.

“Well, my job is to reach the frequency we need, and Charles’ job is to monitor that frequency, until it reach the right moment to stop it critically.” Tony explained fast as he worked.

“Then what will happen?”

“The Stars Passage will close.” Castiel was the one to answer calmly, but looked distracted.

“But what about us?” Dean swallowed nervously.

“What do you mean?” Tony stopped working to look up at him in confusion.

“I mean, what about our situation when The Stars Passage close? Which side are we going to be?” he questioned in frustration.

Tony exchanged a look with Charles, who grimaced before answering. “At the same moment we start our last move, we will breach through a special sonic cylinder in an attempt to go back home.”

“How high our chances for that to work?” Erik asked with a tight face.

“Not high.” Charles murmured quietly.

“How much?” Dean questioned sharply, as he gripped his seat in frustration.

“One percent.” Tony was the one to answer, not meeting anyone’s eyes.

They stared back at him with wide eyes, while Steve frowned and looked away.

“We all took off while knowing this is a suicide mission, right?” Steve said firmly.

Dean exchanged a look with Castiel and didn’t seem too be able to look away. “Right.”

“I can release the frequency in ten seconds and-Fuck! Fucking hell!” Tony broke his sentence to shout in panic as he stared at his tablet in shock.

“What? What happened?” Steve tensed as everyone jumped at Tony’s sudden shout.

“Isn’t this shuttle supposed to be reprogrammed?” he pointed at the tablet accusingly. “Natasha said it was, right?”

“Yeah.” Steve nodded nervously.

“But it is fucking here!”

“Who?” Dean asked in confusion.

“The spy, guys! The spy is fucking here!”

With that, the shuttle jolted violently, Steve and Castiel let out pained shouts, then battleships appeared in front of them.

Ten battleships appeared suddenly, and was now surrounding their shuttle, pointing their weapons at them.

***

Bucky was glaring hard at the window as he stared up at the sky. Angry at everything and worried.

They went back to New York, even though he preferred the Bunker this days. It seems safer. More secure. It didn’t have as much tech as the Tower, which he still didn’t understand half of it. Sure, the Bunker held rooms where they keep cursed things, but he found that exciting instead of scary to be honest.

He just wants a break. They all do.

He glanced over towards Thor and Bruce, who were curling on a couch silently since Team Space left two hours ago. Just basking in each other’s presence.

Raven and Charlie hid away in their room a while ago, Bucky could hear what they were doing, if he focused enough. They were so fucking loud.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a pair of arms wrapping themselves around him tightly from behind. He immediately relaxed against Wilson’s body, as the later rested his chin on his shoulder.

It’s been two months together now. He was worried at first that he was still emotionally not ready to be in a relationship, but so far, everything was going so well that it felt like a dream.

Since the moment he came to the Tower months ago, he always wished to have what Tony and Steve had. What Dean and Castiel had. And lately, what Erik and Charles had. A marriage with complete devotion, love and trust. The love between each couple was overwhelming. It was addicting.

Sure, they fought a lot, but never once he saw anyone of them go to bed angry. He sometimes finds one of them on a couch late at night, but only for a couple of hours, before his significant other comes and drag them back to bed sulkily but lovingly.

He always grimaces at Steve’s lovesick looks when Tony was in the room, entranced by his mere presence. Always rolls his eyes when Tony stared at each move Steve made, like it was the best thing ever. Always pretended to gag at Dean’s not-so-subtle loving constant touches to Castiel whenever he was in reach. Always felt a bang in his heart at Castiel’s adoring face the moment his eyes lands on Dean, like he was worshipping the ground he walks on. Always gaped at the way Erik was cold and cynical with almost everyone, then turns into a huge ball of sweetness and love as he took care of Charles in every possible way. Always felt longing at the way Charles smiles up at Erik, like he was the best thing that ever walked the Earth. 

It was beautiful, it was disgusting, it was everything he ever wished for.

Then Sam fucking Wilson came along and he felt he was getting there. Getting to that beautiful thing he wishes for. He didn’t feel as lonely as he used to be. He was happy. He was actually happy.

“Why are you frowning accusingly at the sky like it personally offended you?” Sam whispered in his ear curiously, nudging him to get his attention.

“I hate that mission.” He muttered bitterly. “Something doesn’t feel right. I tried to tell Steve but he didn’t listen.”

“Yeah, I feel like something is going to go so terribly wrong too.” He sighed tiredly as he tightened his arms around him.

“Why are you here?” Bucky asked suddenly as he turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “I told you to stay away from here. To not interfere in all of this.”

“You are not the boss of me.” He just shrugged at him with a roll of his eyes.

“Sam, I am not joking.” Bucky turned to face him with a glare. “Mirror you died because he was here. Because he interfered. So, for the love of God, what the hell are you doing here?”

“You are here. So, I will be here.” Wilson glared back at him stubbornly. “That’s final. I am not leaving. You are stuck with me, so deal with it.”

Bucky glared back as long as he could, before sighing tiredly and leaned against his lover’s body.

“You are a fucking idiot and you will get yourself killed.” He muttered bitterly into his shoulder.

“Well, you might get yourself killed if I am not here. So, that’s not happening.” he wrapped his arms around him tightly.

“Fucking idiot.”

“Fucking dumbass.”

“That’s the same meaning.”

“Shut up.”

***

The scientist responsible for the shuttle was working on his computer, checking data and was so engrossed in his work that he jumped when Natasha’s voice came from behind him.

“Are you still using your old computer?” Natasha accused sharply. The scientist turned to see her glaring at him with Sam standing behind her.

“Agent Romanov, you almost gave me a heart attack.” He let out a huff as he tried to calm down.

“Why are you using the old computer and not the new one I brought you?” she questioned sharply.

“I am used to it and it contains lots of prog-“

“Tell me, did you use that computer to reprogram the shuttle?” Sam stepped forwards as he asked that with a glare.

“Actually, I-I-“ He stuttered nervously.

“Answer the damn question!” Natasha shouted impatiently.

He swallowed nervously. “I wanted to finish the job faster and-“

Before he could finish, Natasha was on him, grabbing him from his chair and slamming him up against a wall.

“You miserable son of a bitch! Do you have any idea what you did? Do you know the disaster you just caused?!” she screamed at his face in pure rage, that he felt himself freeze in fear.

“Time was short! I-“

“What time, you fucker?!” Sam was the one to shout this time. “You have no idea what you caused by your laziness in following your orders!”

“You just destroyed our last hope in facing the invasion, you idiot!” Natasha let him fall on the floor bitterly.

His eyes widened in panic as he stared up at them. “I-I don’t understand. I though Stark was being his arrogant self and-“

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Natasha shouted as she punched him so hard across his face, that he fell immediately unconscious. 

Sam and Natasha turned towards each other slowly, eyes wide and scared as they met.

“Oh, God.” She whispered bitterly, feeling her body weaken in fear.

“We need to call them. Tell them to come back!” Sam urged frantically, eyes moving around in panic.

“It’s too late.” She whispered, defeated. “They already jumped through The Stars Passage. It’s too late, Sam. They’re lost.”


	26. Chapter 26

They all froze as they stared at the battleships surrounding them from everywhere, expecting them to shoot them down at any second to turn them to ashes.

But nothing happened.

The battleships just surrounded them and stayed frozen, watching them without trying to make any move or attack.

“What are they trying to do? Scare us?” Dean muttered in frustration as he stared back at the ships.

“More than that, the shuttle had stopped working.” Steve pointed out grimly as he removed his hands from the controllers.

“Shit, do you know what this means?” Tony murmured with a grimace.

“They will repeat what their mirror selves did in the Mirror World.” Castiel answered with a deep frustrated frown.

“I can destroy some of their ships.” Erik said as he already raised his palm towards the closest ship, but five hands shot out to stop him.

“No, wait!” Steve exclaimed, as they all almost jumped at him.

“What? Why?” he looked at them in confusion, but lowered his hand nonetheless.

“If we attacked they might destroy us now instead of just capturing us.” Charles explained frantically, as he pulled Erik’s hand towards him to hold it with both his.

Erik frowned anxiously, before nodding in defeat. 

The shuttle then, started to move in the middle of the battleships towards a large crack that appeared in front of them.

They all watched frozen, each one reaching unconsciously towards his lover. Dean reached his hand towards Castiel, who took it tightly in his own. Tony moved forward to clutch at Steve’s arm, the latter placed his own hand over Tony’s in attempt to reassure him. Erik squeezed Charles hands, as the telepath clutched his hand tightly between his.

_‘No one will touch a hair on your head as long as I am alive.’ _Erik projected to Charles as he stared at him in determination.

Charles stared back, feeling his heart clinching in fear. _‘Then you have to stay alive.’ _

The shuttle had passed through the crack then, and they felt the cold shiver that ran through all their bodies as they reached the other side.

Even though they were expecting what they will see, their eyes still widened at the scene in front of them.

Even with how huge and endless the space around them was, the invaders’ mother ship still seemed too big to be real.

A huge thing, in the size of an entire planet, floating calmly through space, with at least a million battleships surrounding it from all places.

For a few seconds, no one said anything as the shuttle flew, still surrounded by battleships, towards an opening in the ship, that resembled a number of huge silver balls, connected together by tunnels in a way that seemed endless.

“I think we are flying with a different angle, we are seeing details that Mirror Castiel never mentioned.” Steve whispered as he watched everything carefully.

“Or maybe it’s another ship?” Charles suggested quietly, hands still clutching to Erik’s.

“Another ship? Is it possible for another ship this big to exist?” Dean exclaimed in frustration.

“By now, I believe anything is possible.” Tony muttered bitterly, hand tightening on Steve’s arm.

Dean exchanged a worried look with Castiel. “Can’t argue with that.”

Slowly, in the middle of two lines of battleships, the shuttle slid through the opening smoothly. Inside it, there was a long smooth tunnel, which seemed endless and big enough to fit ten ships side by side.

The shuttle flew through the tunnel, until it reached two hundred meters or so, then it reached a very wide room, with a big circle in the middle which the shuttle landed on top of it.

Then from the comms, a metallic sound came that sounded like the banging of hammers.

“What is it that? Their piece of junk of an Emperor is coming personally to greet us?” Dean muttered as he tensed at the sound.

The hammering changed into a cold, metallic voice.

_“You are now in the presence of the Emperor. Leave your ship immediately.”_

“Okay, history is repeating itself violently here and I am hating every moment of it.” Tony exhaled nervously as they got to their feet.

“In our world, history is yet to begin.” Castiel stated firmly, as Steve opened the door of the shuttle so they could get out.

They all stepped out on what felt like a metallic red carpet under their feet. Erik was keeping Charles firmly behind him, hidden along with his chair. Steve was gripping Tony’s hand tightly in his as the latter suited up. Dean and Castiel were glued together, gripping each other tightly.

“What are they going to do now?” Charles asked carefully, trying to look from around Erik.

“We will meet their metal Emperor I am guessing.” Steve muttered quietly, looking around carefully.

They all tensed when the metallic voice sounded yet again.

_“Kneel before the Emperor.” _

“What Emperor?” Dean shouted in frustration.

The lights went out suddenly, leaving them all in complete darkness.

“Woah, guys? The floor is moving underneath us. I think they are taking us somewhere else.” Tony announced nervously.

“Peachy.” Dean sighed in frustration. “Just peachy. Everything is going just like what Mirror Cas said.”

Erik immediately pulled Charles towards him, to keep his arms around him protectively.

Each one glued to their lovers as they waited.

Castiel, meanwhile, was trying to breach the darkness with his eyes, as all the questions sounded in his mind again loudly.

Why the darkness?

Why?

_Why?_

With his questions, the lights came back suddenly, making them close their eyes for a few seconds, before reopening them again.

They all stared at the scene.

At the huge throne, of three meters height and width of at least two meters.

At the Emperor who stared right back at them.

***

“The Japanese and the Egyptians decide to surrender.”

Wilson announced grimly, as he walked into the room fast.

“What? Why would they do that?” Sam questioned in confusion. “We engaged with the invaders’ battleships and managed to bring some of their battleships down.”

“Not at all fronts, I am afraid.” Wilson shook his head with a deep sigh. “Besides, it didn’t stop people from dying or getting hurt. The losses now reached half a million across the world. Also, the Japanese and Egyptians checked the crashed battleships and when they saw that there was no pilots and was being piloted remotely, they decided it was hopeless to fight against merciless machines.”

“But we told them everything we have! And also told them that the invaders attacks everyone who will surrender viciously.” Bruce stated in confusion.

“Obviously, they don’t believe us.” Rhodey announced as he entered the room.

“Then send them a copy of everything we have. Prove to them we are doing this for their own sake.”

“I did.” Rhodey huffed in frustration.

“And they still didn’t believe?” Bucky questioned indignantly.

Rhodey shook his head sadly.

“Stupid idiots.” Natasha muttered with a frustrated scoff.

“Their experts stated that, if the invaders’ purpose was to destroy any form of life, they won’t have retreated when they engaged with our fighter jets, and would just keep fighting tell the end, since they don’t have lives to lose.”

“Maybe they are keeping their quality of numbers.” Thor suggested with a shrug.

“They see that didn’t make sense.” Rhodey shook his head. “According to what Mirror Castiel said about them having about a million battleships that’s enough to attack the whole world.” He shrugged with a frown. “Honestly, I think they have a point. It’s a very confusing thing from their part.”

“We are all confused about this point.” Natasha sighed in frustration. “The stranger part is their tendency to attack each country on its own with a limited number of their battleships. Sure, its numbers are more than the number of fighter jets and defense systems in each country, but It’s still limited in compare to of the enormous number they have.”

“Maybe they can’t breach the Stars Passage with huge numbers?” Logan asked with a shrug.

“No, I don’t think that’s the reason either.” Hank shook his head at the suggestion.

“Then what is the reason?”

“No one knows.” Raven sighed tiredly. “Maybe Team Space will know the answer when they come back.”

Both Natasha and Sam looked away in pain at that. They still didn’t tell the team that the virus was in the shuttle. That the invaders knew about their mission.

That the team might never come back.

But they couldn’t tell them. It will break them.

They can’t afford to be broken right now.

“If they came back.” Bucky sighed sadly at that.

“Yeah.” Natasha whispered quietly. “If they came back.”

***

They all stared up at the Emperor in awe.

Even though they had a full picture of him from the start, facing the giant robot at that moment was a completely different thing.

It’s not easy to see a huge, five feet tall robot with one huge eye that kept scanning them, and remain calm.

_“Kneel before the Emperor.” _

The metallic voice sounded again around them.

“We don’t kneel in front of anyone.” Steve said in a strong voice as he stared at the Emperor defiantly.

_“Kneel before the Emperor.” _

The voice repeated, like they didn’t care about what Steve just said.

“Didn’t you hear, asshole? We kneel for no one, especially in front of a pile of junk like that.” Dean snapped angrily as he placed his hand on his gun anxiously.

_“Kneel before the Emperor.” _

The Emperor’s eye was scanning their faces, like it was studying their reactions.

“Obviously, you live in one big illusion.” Erik growled angrily at the Emperor. “I don’t kneel before Metal. Metal kneel before me.”

He raised his hand towards the Emperor, but Castiel’s hand shot up suddenly to grab his, eyes lightening up as understanding dawned on him.

Every question his Mirror self asked him.

All their answers dawned on him at that moment after Erik’s sentence.

“Castiel?” Erik turned to look at him in confusion, when the angel just gripped his hand without explanation.

“Illusion. Just illusion.” Castiel whispered fervently, eyes looking up towards the Emperor, face completely calm, unbothered by anything happening around him.

They all turned to him in confusion.

“Cas, what are you saying?” Dean questioned, looking at him in concern.

Castiel turned to him, face completely blank. “That was my doppelganger’s last words.” He answered calmly. “It’s all just an illusion.”

“I-I don’t understand anything and I hate it.” Tony was looking at him in frustrated confusion.

_“Kneel before the Emperor.” _

A mysterious smirk took place on Castiel’s face, as he faced the Emperor.

“The Emperor? Sure. We will give him exactly what he needs.” He said sweetly, before suddenly pulling out Dean’s gun from his belt, ignoring the hunter’s surprised shout, and shot at the Emperor efficiently. Effectively shuttering its eye.

“Cas! What did you do?!” Steve exclaimed in shock the moment the eye was destroyed.

“Later, Steve! I will explain later!” Castiel shouted as he pushed Dean away from the red metal carpet.

Even with the Emperor’s serious injury, it didn’t move an inch, but a roaring violent sound came from somewhere around them.

Then two small doors opened on both sides of the throne, from it appeared small bodies that looked like oversized mosquitos and headed towards the team to surround them with their metallic wings ruffling and needles coming out of their heads, ready to pierce it into the closest body.

_“Kneel before the Emperor.”_

The voice sounded again like it wasn’t aware of what was happening.

The team retreated back fast, as the mosquitos came at them.

What was happening was an exact copy of what happened in the Mirror World.

But the results would be different.

It could be worse.


	27. Chapter 27

The moment the mosquitos charged towards them, Erik raised both his hands, freezing all of them in midair.

But it was taking an enormous effort out of him, since the mosquitos were hundreds and were fighting against Erik’s powers viciously.

“Fall back to the shuttle! He won’t be able to hold them back for long!” Castiel ordered, as they started to shoot at the frozen mosquitos to lessen the pressure on Erik a little.

“And where is the shuttle?!” Dean shouted back as the small robots seemed to be getting closer, even as Erik fell on his knees from the amount of effort he was using, his face was getting alarmingly red.

“It’s not far.” Castiel replied confidently, as he urged them to move back.

“Erik, are you alright there?” Steve called out in worry as he watched him carefully.

When he didn’t answer, Charles moved towards him in concern and was about to place a hand on his shoulder, but he suddenly shot up to his feet with an angry growl and clinched his fists tightly, managing to turn all the mosquitos he was freezing into small metal balls that fell to the ground heavily.

“That was awesome.” Tony and Dean stared in awe at the scene and grinned back at Erik.

But their victory was short lived, because after a few seconds, the next herd of mosquitos came out of the small two doors again, their numbers were doubled.

“I-I can’t freeze all of them again.” Erik’s face paled as he took a step towards Charles.

“Then we fight.” Steve readied himself, eyes never leaving the mosquitos.

“Charles, press the protective shield around you.” Tony yelled, as the five of them made a circle around Charles as they fought the approaching robots.

“Each one you destroy, two more comes in its place.” Charles’ face was pale as he watched helplessly. Tony, Dean and Castiel were firing at them relentlessly, Steve was hitting them with his shield, and Erik was using his powers to shatter any mosquito that came close.

“Keep moving back.” Castiel shouted as he kept fighting.

“They will shut the lights any moment now and I don’t think we will make it.” Tony shouted back bitterly but kept firing his repulsors nonetheless. “We can’t fight them off forever.”

“The lights will not turn off.” Castiel stated firmly as he looked up towards the Emperor. “We will not let them.” he turned towards Steve. “Steve! Remove its head!”

“But he is not attacking us! They are!” Steve shouted back in confusion.

“Just trust me! They are all attacking us!” Castiel gave him a meaningful look that immediately made up his mind.

Steve turned towards the Emperor and threw his shield at him, the mosquitos immediately attack him, since he was now defenseless, but Tony got in front of him fast to cover him. 

The shield flew fast towards the still unmoving Emperor’s head. Successfully, hitting the center of its neck and slicing the head completely off.

The moment the head was cut off, the mosquitos stopped their attack and just flew around aimlessly and confusedly.

They looked around in confusion as well, while Steve caught his shield when it flies back to him. 

“What happened? Was he controlling them?” Tony asked, looking lost as he watched the mosquitos in confusion.

“Later. I will explain later.” Castiel moved fast towards one of the walls and started to trail his hands over it. “What’s important now, is to find the shuttle.”

“The shuttle? But it is not here. It is in another room, Cas.” Dean stated looking frustrated from the amount of confusion filling him.

“No, it is here.” Castiel insisted firmly. He said it, then took a few steps back and raised his hand towards a part of the wall. “Exactly here.”

He shot a burst of his grace and it hit the wall, which immediately started to shake for a second, before it turned on itself slowly to reveal the shuttle, which started to move smoothly into the room they were in.

They all made way for the shuttle in surprise as they watched it move.

“It was here. All this time.” Steve blinked at it in confusion, before shaking himself out of his surprise. “Quick! Everyone into the shuttle!”

He moved to open it’s the door and they all rushed inside it, as fast as they could.

“Dean, shut the door.” Castiel ordered as he rushed towards the computer of the shuttle and started to work on it fast.

Dean obliged, then turned to him in frustration. “Now, are you going to tell us what’s going on? I can’t stay in the dark anymore.”

Tony was watching Castiel carefully, before he realized what he was doing. “Cas, are you-“

“Yes, Tony, I am.” Castiel nodded at him as he kept working.

“You figured it out!” Steve murmured with wide eyes as he stared at him.

“Figured what out? What is he doing?” Erik asked in frustration, as he kept looking around in worry.

“No time for me to explain what I figured out. I need to do something very important, before they start their attack.”

“Attack?” Charles tensed as he looked at him with wide eyes.

“What did you expect? That they will let us ruin their perfect plan and get away with it?” he replied anxiously as he kept working.

They shared tensed looks, then looked around in worry as well.

“Cas, I still don’t understand anything and it’s pissing me off.” Dean clinched his fists in frustration.

The moment he said that, a loud cracking sound came from outside, then the wall facing them crumpled, revealing ten strange looking robots that were carrying laser guns and were heading towards the shuttle.

Without warning, laser beams was shot at the shuttle mercilessly.

***

Erik moved fast and used his powers to keep the shuttle’s body held together firmly against the laser beams that kept hitting it.

“Why aren’t you controlling the robots themselves?” Tony questioned frantically, as Steve pushed him back behind him.

“They are not made of Metal.” Erik gritted out, his face tight as he kept all his focus on keeping the shuttle standing firm. “They are made of a strange material that I can’t control.”

“I don’t think we will hold on for long.” Dean muttered bitterly as he saw more robots trudging into the room.

“It doesn’t matter if we didn’t survive.” Castiel stated firmly as he pressed the last button.

“What’s important is that Earth survives.” Steve nodded back at Castiel, understanding what he was doing. Charles was watching everything quietly but anxiously, probably already knew what the angel was doing as well from Steve or Tony’s thoughts. 

“Tony, now.” Castiel called out, as he pulled Dean close to him protectively, after he finished what he was doing.

Tony immediately jumped to pull down a small lever that was hidden carefully in a corner.

When the lever was pulled down, a small opening appeared in the back of the shuttle, a small metal ball, in the size of a tennis ball, jumped from it fast and flew through the long tunnel until it reached the space outside.

The invaders noticed it and registered its size, speed and destination, then started to shot at it viciously.

But the ball maneuvered them swiftly because of its small size. 

It released a powerful frequency that rattled everything around it.

Then an opening appeared in space for a second, which the ball disappeared into immediately.

Inside the shuttle, most of them didn’t know about the ball.

“Erik, you can’t stay like this forever.” Charles called out frantically, as he watched his husband’s red pained face desperately.

“I have to.” He uttered weakly but never lost his focus.

“What are they doing?” Dean pointed at one of the robots that pulled out a strange looking gun and pointed it at them.

When the robot pulled the trigger it didn’t release laser, a grenade or even bullets. It released an extremely strong electromagnetic waves.

So strong, that the moment it pulled the trigger, Erik froze for a second, then fell unconscious on the ground like a sack of potatoes.

“Erik!” Charles screamed frantically, as he dropped from his chair to the ground next to him to grab at him in fear. “What did they do?! What did they do to him?!”

“Everyone drop to the ground now!” Steve shouted as the laser beams rained down at them, shattering the glass windows, the right wing, the front, which made the shuttle fall heavily on its side.

Steve pushed Tony on the ground and covered both of their bodies with his shield, Cas pulled Dean into his arms as they both dropped to the floor and held on tightly to each other, Charles covered Erik’s unresponsive body with his own and clutched him desperately.

“That’s it? We are going to die like trapped rats?” Dean shouted bitterly, as he clutched tightly at Castiel.

“We can’t fight that army off, it’s increasing as we speak. We will never gonna make it.” Tony yelled in frustration, grapping at Steve desperately as they both crawled under the shield as much as they could.

Suddenly, hundreds of transparent small balls crashed into the shuttle through the broken windows.

“What’s that? What are they going to do now?” Charles exclaimed in anger, as he covered Erik’s body completely with his own. 

“Don’t touch it!” Castiel pulled Dean closer and away, when one of the balls almost touch him.

The balls glowed suddenly with bright light, then they felt a powerful electric shock pass through every cell in their bodies violently.

They screamed in pain.

Then they all fell unconscious.

The light faded away.

Slowly, the balls floated above their bodies then attached themselves against the shuttle’s walls. At the same moment, the robots broke down the shuttle’s door to point their guns at the fallen bodies.

***

Thor groaned in pain just when Bruce shot up to his feet.

“Guys, there is a new attempt to breach our space.” He announced frantically, at the same time moving to Thor fast.

They all shot up to their feet at that as well.

“Where? How? And how strong is it? Why can’t we hear the Noise?” Sam asked nervously.

“That’s what’s confusing.” Hank frowned down at Bruce’s tablet that he threw aside to check on Thor. “Its frequency fits the breach perfectly, but it’s too small that it can’t fit a single battleship.”

“Too small.” Natasha repeated with furrowed brows.

“Maybe it’s a bomb?” Bucky asked anxiously, looking tense.

She shared a long look with Sam as she answered. “No, it’s not.” then she looked up. “JARVIS, show us what’s happening.”

“Do you know something we don’t know?” Logan trailed his eyes between them carefully.

“Space Team is still alive.” Sam answered firmly, just when a holoscreen appeared in the middle of the room.

“Really?” Charlie asked hopefully.

“Wait, how did you know that?” Clint raised an eyebrow at them.

“You will see for yourself.” Natasha pointed at the screen that showed the sky and its clouds.

A muted cracking sound happened, then a hole opened in the sky, a small metal ball flew from it.

“Follow that ball, JARVIS.” Sam ordered as he watched with held breath.

The ball was flying fast towards something.

“Okay, we need an explanation. Now.” Bucky crossed his arms as he glared at them. “What the hell is this?”

“That ball is a second line of defense in the suicide mission.” Natasha answered as she pointed at the ball.

“What do you mean?” Raven frowned in confusion.

Sam watched the descend of the ball as he answered. “It was Cas’ idea. When they started their mission, we didn’t know if it was only one spy or not. So he made a secret, backup plan that will take place if the main plan of closing The Stars Passage failed.”

“And that ball is the backup plan?” Thor questioned carefully.

“It’s not just a ball.” Natasha corrected. “It’s a safe that contains information. Like the black box you find in planes that records all the plane’s communications second by second. This ball contains every detail, in sound and picture, of the shuttle’s journey since it left Earth until the moment it was sent. Castiel was supposed to add to it any discoveries or revelations he made during the mission.”

“In short, this backup plan’s main purpose is what the Mirror Space Team went on their mission for. Castiel suggested adding a way to send the info back to Earth in case something happened to them, Steve agreed to it. So, Tony made the ball and added to it a memory that allows it to find its way back to Earth with all the info it held. And one of the adjustments on the shuttle, after it was reprogrammed, was adding this ball as secretly as possible.” Sam continued Natasha’s line of thoughts.

“And you didn’t think of telling us any off this?” Bucky questioned angrily.

“It was all a last minute adjustments, Bucky. I only knew after they left for the mission.” Sam sighed in frustration.

The ball reached the Tower then and stopped to hover over the roof, waiting.

“We will go get it.” Bruce and Hank shot up to leave the room fast.

“We will see what they sent, but we will talk about this after all of this ends.” Clint pointed at Natasha and Sam firmly.

“Let’s just hope whatever they sent will be able to help us end this and not make everything worse.” Natasha muttered grimly.

They didn’t ask her what she meant.

But a cold shiver ran through their bodies nonetheless.


	28. Chapter 28

Castiel’s body jolted violently, as he woke up suddenly after being in complete darkness.

His body bolted upright and Dean’s arms were immediately around him.

“Cas! Hey, hey, it’s okay. We’re okay.” Dean murmured quietly as he pulled him close to him.

Castiel looked around in confusion, they were inside a room with walls glowing soft blue, no windows, one door. Everyone else was awake, Erik was pale and tired as he leaned his head against Charles chest, the telepath in return was wrapping his arms around Erik tightly and protectively. Tony seemed frustrated and angry as he leaned heavily against Steve’s side, who was wrapping his arm tightly around his shoulders to pull him flush against his body, also looking frustrated and too pale.

“We are not dead.” Castiel commented bluntly as he leaned weakly against Dean’s chest. Why was he so weak?

“They are keeping us for some reason.” Steve stated with worried frown on his face.

“They took my suit.” Tony spat out angrily, hand reaching towards his arc reactor free chest. “And Steve’s shield, all of Dean’s weapons and even Charles’ fucking chair.”

“Also, this room seemed to be dampening our powers.” Charles added with a sigh. “Neither mine or Erik’s are working nor is Steve feeling his usual strength.”

Castiel reached towards his grace, only to find that he couldn’t for some reason. “I can’t reach my grace.” He announced grimly making them look at him in surprise.

“Oh, great. So we are pretty much defenseless, if they decide to send their army in here to finish us, we are done for.” Dean muttered in frustration.

“We are not exactly defenseless without our weapons and powers, Dean.” Steve commented with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, but we can’t exactly win in a fist fight with an army of robots or mosquitos like this, dude.” Dean rolled his eyes with a huff.

“They kept us alive. So they are keeping us for a reason.” Castiel stated firmly as he straightened up, despite his weakness.

Dean rounded on him then. “Cas, you obviously know something we don’t know. What’s going on? And what did you do in the shuttle before we were knocked out?”

“I just uncovered their illusion.” Castiel shrugged with a small smile. “And understood what Mirror Castiel’s last words meant.”

“Can we have a more detailed explanation?” Erik asked, as he straightened up a little as well.

“Of course.” He trailed his eyes around the empty room with a small smirk. “Everyone have a right to know.”

They didn’t catch his meaning, but they all listened with complete attention as he told them everything.

***

The small metal ball slid smoothly through the device Tony made especially for it.

The moment it slid to its rightful place, several holoscreens appeared in front of the team, showing everything the ball held inside.

In complete silence, the team watched the shuttle’s journey through the Stars Passage.

Until the moment when the invaders’ mother ship appeared.

Their eyes widened in terrified awe at the scene, hearts thundering in panic.

“Oh God.” Bruce whispered weakly. “Mirror Castiel mentioned how big their mother ship is, but I never imagined that it was this huge.”

“And look at this huge number of battleships. I don’t think we have even half of this number on the whole planet.” Rhodey commented grimly.

“They can destroy us in the matter of few hours.” Hank whispered anxiously.

“The question is: why didn’t they then?” Sam turned to him as he asked carefully.

They all frowned at that.

“Yeah, why didn’t they?” Bucky whispered distractedly as they kept watching.

No one answered as they watched the shuttle slid through a long tunnel inside the invaders’ mother ship, then landing smoothly inside the huge room.

They heard the metallic voice as it ordered Team Space to kneel before the Emperor.

“God, how do you guys handle facing all of this?” Charlie whispered, voice filled with fear.

“Because we are Avengers.” Natasha answered immediately, eyes never leaving the screen for even a second. “It’s our job. It’s who we are.”

“What she said.” Clint gestured with his head towards Natasha as he watched.

Then the lights turned off inside the huge room suddenly.

“Goddammit! We will miss a very important part!” Raven growled in frustration.

“Don’t worry, we won’t miss anything.” Natasha shook her head at her. “The ball will move on to night vision mode immediately.”

As she said that, the scene turned to light green when the night vision mode started, and watched what the ball recorded during the dark.

“Odin’s beard! Do you see that?!” Thor exclaimed in shock as they stared gaping at the scene.

“What the-? The ship is supposedly very huge, that’s how-“ Clint stopped as he blinked.

“-that’s how it looks like!” Sam continued excitedly.

Their wide eyes met as they all understood immediately what this meant. 

“That’s what Castiel wanted to show us!” Natasha exclaimed excitedly. “JARVIS! Fast forward a little, we need to see his conclusion!”

The scenes moved a little faster, it showed when Castiel shot the Emperor’s eye, the mosquitos’ attack, the Emperor’s head being decapitated by Steve’s shield, the team rushing into the shuttle.

Then the robot army appearing and showering the shuttle with laser beams mercilessly.

The whole team jolted back in panic and horror at that.

“No! They are attacking them!” Raven screamed in panic.

“No. No, that can’t be happening.” Sam shook his head violently as he watched the scene with horrified eyes.

Then suddenly, the screen went dark.

They stayed in dead silence for a few seconds. Unable to say anything.

“This is the last thing the ball recorded.” Natasha cut the silence, voice soft and bitter, feeling a tear roll down her cheek.

No one was able to say anything. Sam hunched on himself as he stared straight forward in shock. The others didn’t look much different from his state.

Then the screen lighted up again.

This time, it held Castiel’s words.

His musings. His thoughts. His revelations.

Their eyes widened in pure shock at what he said.

Their hearts banged hard in their chests.

Because what was written in front of them, could change everything.

Everything.

***

“All this, is just an illusion.”

Castiel stated calmly as he rested his shoulder against Dean’s, still facing everyone. He gestured around the room as he continued: “The huge mother ship. The countless number of battleships. The huge robot Emperor. All of that are pawns in a very brilliant plan of destroying the fighting spirit of people on Earth, to ensure their vicious victory.”

“So what you are saying is: this ship is not as huge as it seems to be?” Steve asked, his entire attention on Castiel.

“Exactly.” Castiel nodded in confirmation. “All you are seeing, is a limited size space ship, a false shell had been added to it. Depends mostly on perfectly made holograms, to make it look like a huge planet. As for these countless battleships, most of them are just empty shells and holograms, its purpose is to elude us of how powerful and unbeatable the invaders are.”

“But no one will be able to see any of this anyway, Cas. Why bother with it?” Dean asked in confusion.

“No, Dean. That’s not true.” Castiel shook his head at him as he explained. “Mirror Space Team saw it. We did too. Any planet that face what we are facing, is surely to send a scouting team to look for information on the enemy.” He leaned forward to continue excitedly. “That’s why the battleships that surrounded Mirror Team Space didn’t eliminate them immediately. Even after all the death they caused on Earth then, which meant they have no value for the human life and didn’t care about it in the slightest. But in reality, they didn’t destroy Mirror Team then so they can see all this and record every second of it, to strike fear in us and them. Also, the shutting off of the lights was only a theatric way to change the décor of the room, so we would think we have been moved to another huge room. Especially, when we felt that metal carpet move beneath our feet. Exactly what happens in theatres. Several décor pieces for several scenes, that moves smoothly and swiftly, to make us think that we are inside a huge ship.”

“That actually explains a lot!” Tony stated excitedly. “That’s why they depended on swift, quick strikes, and why they attacked one country at a time. So they can use their limited power in one big, resistance free, attack!”

“They also made us face the huge robot Emperor and killer mosquitos.” Castiel nodded at him as he continued. “They attacked Mirror Sam and killed him mercilessly, to break his team. Then they let them escape, without trying to track them, even though they could easily send hundreds of battleships after them in mere seconds because of their knowledge of The Stars Passage.” He trailed his eyes over their faces as he smirked again. “Their main purpose was for the team to return to Earth with everything they saw. So they could strike fear in everyone, break them and destroy their fighting spirit. Same reasons why they choose their targets carefully to make the biggest mess. Attacking the presidential mansion and Avengers Tower in the Mirror World, but never a military base or an Air Force base. They depended on fast, swift strikes. Always avoided direct confrontation with our forces.”

The five of them were staring at him breathlessly, eyes wide and awed.

“Do you know what this means?” Charles whispered fervently.

“It means the invaders are not as invincible as the Mirror World thought.” Steve answered with a slowly forming smile.

“That if our world knew all of this.” Erik frowned in displeasure.

“Oh, don’t worry. They know by now.” Castiel smiled calmly at him.

Dean turned to him in shock. “No way. That was what you were doing in the shuttle, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.” He nodded at him in confirmation. “It’s a backup plan I made with Tony. Steve knew about it, and I am guessing Charles knew too from our minds?” Charles nodded with a soft smile.

“A small metal ball was sent to Earth that held the details of our mission and Castiel’s revelations.” Tony stated immediately. “It accomplished its mission. Otherwise, I’d have known.”

“So, now they know.” Erik said slowly.

“And they will fight.” Steve confirmed firmly.

They shared a more hopeful looks this time.

“One thing I still don’t understand.” Tony frowned suddenly. “How did robotic minds came up with such a complicated, but fucking smart plan like that?”

“This also part of their psychological war.” Castiel gestured towards him as he answered. He turned his eyes towards the room’s door. “The feeling that you are facing lifeless robots will make you think that winning is impossible and that cruelty is the name of the game.”

“You mean we are not facing robots?” Steve asked carefully.

“Not even half robots.” Castiel smirked.

“What about their Emperor?” Dean raised an eyebrow at him.

“You mean the one that didn’t even raise a finger to protect himself when we destroyed the camera that was his eye, then remove the monitoring device entirely that was his head? It was just a piece of junk, Dean. A way to monitor us. The moment we removed its head, the mosquitos were unable to directly attack us.”

“Okay, wow. Just wow.” Tony was staring at him with huge awed eyes. “You are a genius! A fucking genius! How the hell did you figure all of this out?! How does your brain even work?!”

Castiel just shrugged, his face flushing a little, while Dean was grinning at him proudly and Steve was smiling softly at him.

“Just one last question: what does the invaders actually look like?” Erik asked as he watched Castiel with an impressed look on his face.

“Actually, I think your husband will be able to answer that one.” Castiel said as he nodded at a startled Charles.

“Wait, me? How?” Charles looked up at him in confusion.

“I heard you studied psychology and human nature as a side hoppy, which means you will be able to explain why a creature would insist to elude us that everything around them is huge, enormous and giant like?”

“They are lacking all of that!” Charles answered immediately and excitedly.

“Exactly.” Castiel nodded at him with a smile.

A loud, vicious roar sounded in the room after that.

Then the door slid open slowly.

Behind it, something appeared.

Or rather seven things.

Six large robots that held huge laser guns.

Between them, stood a living creature.

The first living creature they laid eyes on in this ship.


	29. Chapter 29

The Japanese Prime Minister seemed agitated, as his picture appeared in the holoscreen when Natasha and Sam called him.

“I don’t know why you asked for this secured call at a time like this.” He said, frustration and anxiousness evident in his voice. “We are waiting on the invaders to show up and-“

“We have new information.” Natasha cut him off firmly. Happy that Japanese was one of the many languages she knew. Sam could understand some of it as well.

“No need for any persuasion.” He shook his head sharply. “We discussed our decision and everyone agreed that we are doing the right thing.”

“What if there is a sure way to win?” Sam interjected carefully, as he stood beside Natasha.

“You can’t persuade us.” He stated firmly then frowned. “Besides, where are your two leaders? Decided to run away with their lives?”

“Our leaders is exactly the reason why we called.” Natasha answered as she pressed a button. “Watch this and you will understand.”

Everything the metal ball recorded appeared on the screen in front of the Prime Minister, who stayed silent as he watched with wide, awed eyes, until it was over. He stayed frozen for a few seconds after what he watched.

“Now what do you think?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

He watched them silently for a few seconds.

“Did you show this to everyone?” he asked in a strained, choked off voice.

“Only the Russians and the French so far.” Natasha answered fast.

“What did they say?”

“They’re in.” she looked back at him confidently.

They fell silent again as the Japanese Minister took all of this in.

“Do you have a plan?” he asked after clearing his throat.

“Of course we do.” Sam confirmed with a nod. “We will tell you the details right now.”

“And if the others are in, everything will change.” Natasha added in determination.

“I certainly hope so.” He huffed out an anxious breath.

***

Even after everything Castiel said, his revelations and conclusions, the shock was still hard when their eyes landed indignantly on the creature standing in front of them between the six robots.

He was human shaped, very short, probably less than three feet tall, his head size takes most of his entire size, big eyes, small nose, mouth only a line with no lips. He was wearing a blue suit that contrasted heavily with his pale as the dead skin. Also wearing a bright red boot that was so small, probably toddler size.

For a minute or so, they just kept staring at his face as he crossed his little arms across his chest to watch them in return.

“Wow. You are the fugliest baby I have ever seen.” Dean broke the silence bluntly, unable to hold back his remark any longer.

That brought out a giggle from Tony that was more a hysteric laugh than a giggle really.

“Oh God.” Tony laughed uncontrollably, probably deciding to release his stress in laughing hysterically. “Of all the things I have seen, I never thought something so small can be this ugly. I am finally no longer the shortest one in the room!” 

Even with the tense situation, the stress must have gotten to them all. Steve was trying hard to not bend over and laugh along with Tony. Castiel was smirking openly. Erik was trying hard to bit down his own snide remark but failing to keep his amused smile though. Charles’ body was shaking with how much he was keeping in his own hysterical laughter. Dean just raised an eyebrow at the glaring creature as he looked him up and down in disdain.

They all were having a hard time believing that this small creature was the cause of all this pain and death.

_“You did not expect this form, didn’t you?” _

The creature interjected in the middle of their hysteric reactions. His voice was coming out quietly from his lips to reach a small device connected to his head, so it was translated loudly into English in a cold metallic voice.

“Yes.” Castiel shrugged in a calm coldness. “But it fits our conclusions.”

The creature turned his glare on Castiel.

_“Obviously, you are the smartest one of them.” _

“Each one of us is smart in his own way.” Castiel retorted coldly and firmly.

“And obviously, you have been watching our planet for a long time now, that you have a full picture on our nature, languages and way of thinking, or you wouldn’t be able to perfect your psychological war otherwise.” Steve stated equally cold.

_“Most of these things are the same in all worlds, Human.” _The creature shock his head slowly_. “All creatures fear from the unknown. They all can be defeated from the inside, before defeating them face to face. The most important thing is to know all the rules of the game.” _

“Are all these bloody massacres just a game to you?” Dean barked angrily at his face.

The creature turned his wide eyes at him slowly and he watched him silently for a few seconds.

_“Life itself is just a game.”_ He said slowly, eyes still trained on Dean. _“You don’t consider it more than that, or you wouldn’t have treated it so carelessly.”_

Charles frowned as he watched the creature carefully. Erik was keeping him firmly out of view.

“Seriously? We are the ones who are treating it carelessly?” Tony exclaimed indignantly.

_“Yes, that’s what I am saying.”_ The creature answered coldly_. “Do you have any idea what you are doing to your own planet? Thousands, no millions, of tons of poisonous gases released from your machines and houses every day. Hundreds gallons of poisonous chemicals thrown in your oceans, seas and rivers every day. Thousands of kilograms of radioactive wastes being buried in your deserts every day. Entire forests eliminated for their wood. Chemical fertilizers feed your food and your cattle’s’ food, which you feed on. Unnatural plants being born out of genetic engineering and cloning in every passing minute. Did you expect that your world will remain for long after all this? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. You are killing everything around you. All I am doing is accelerating the endgame results.”_

“By any right?” Steve snapped sharply. “Do you think yourself a God that can control the fate of others just because he isn’t pleased with the way they are living? Who do you think you are?”

Anger flashed in the creature’s eyes as he turned his full on glare on Steve.

_“Who doesn’t protect his planet, doesn’t deserve to live on its surface.”_ He snapped as he took a step inside the room, the robots following him. _“You have a gift that you don’t appreciate. An entire world that is fit for a perfect way of life. Everything on it synchronized, harmonized, balanced and perfect.” _He waved his hand in frustration then. _“And yet, you are destroying it on regular basis. How many animals and birds that are threatened to be extinct because you marched with your city into their homes? How many humans died in wars that happened because of economical and colonial purposes? How many humans dies from hunger and thirst every day, while others are suffering from glut and profligacy? If you counted down all the mistakes you make, lifetime will not be enough.”_

Charles’ brows furrowed as he watched the creature in concerned interest.

“We might have made mistakes towards the planet, but even that doesn’t give you the right to harm it in any way.” Tony stated harshly as he glared back at the creature.

_“Who have a say in this? You?”_ he snapped as he turned to him sharply. 

“And certainly not you.” Erik growled as he stepped towards the creature, Ignoring Charles’ attempt to stop him. 

He quickly stepped back and pointed at the robots. _“Don’t even dare. These robots will crush anyone that will get too close or try to hurt me.”_

“You shouldn’t depend too much on machines. They might fail you.” Erik snapped as he took another step.

Six guns were raised towards his face immediately and the creature barked. _“I warned you.”_

“Who said I care about your warning?”

Steve and Castiel grabbed his arms and pulled him back firmly.

“Keep yourself together.” Castiel ordered firmly. “Don’t give him a reason to kill you.”

“You still think he is planning to keep us alive?” Dean raised an eyebrow at him.

“He is keeping us for a reason.” Castiel stated, as he turned his eyes towards the creature.

_“Of course I am.” _He just shrugged coldly.

“That reason is most likely purely sadistic, isn’t it?” Tony grimaced at him in disdain.

The creature was silent for a few seconds then answered: _“Our world didn’t know such complicated terms to describe the nature of emotions, but you coming here in a suicide mission means you are a very special group of humans. Some of you is not even entirely human or even human at all, and yet you share the same level of purpose and devotion towards each other. Also, your space shuttle held special machines made specifically to close what you call ‘Stars Passage’ forever, with all its chances of you going back to your home, which means you are also suicidal and you don’t value your lives in any way.” _

“Only for our duty.” Steve stated firmly. “Something that you will never understand.”

The creature continued after giving Steve a long look. _“Which means, it will not hurt you if I decided to kill you right now, and it will also not benefit me in any way.”_

“You mean you will not kill us?” Dean raised an eyebrow at him.

“No, he will.” Charles stated firmly, making everyone turn to him in surprise, while the creature trailed his eyes over him, a hint of nervousness appearing in his eyes. “But only after he wins and ensures the end of Earth.”

The creature watched him quietly before looking at Castiel from the corner of his eyes_. “You were right. Each one here is smart in his own way. Which is a very dangerous thing.”_

“I might not have my powers right now, but I do know psychology, and I just discovered that all creatures in the universe have the same nature.” Charles said firmly, facing the creature and ignoring Erik’s attempts at hiding him again. “I have been watching you the entire time you were talking and I came to a conclusion. We are in front of a lonely, shut out creature. Suffered a lot in a long time, that you are filled with hate and anger towards the reasons that led to your loneliness, that you decided to take revenge on what came close to these reasons in everywhere in the universe.”

The creature listened to his words carefully, but the look in his eyes was a giveaway that each word Charles was saying was true.

“What do you mean by lonely?” Dean frowned in confusion. “He doesn’t get along with the other fugly creatures in his world?”

“Didn’t you get it, Dean?” Castiel asked with a small smirk at the creature.

“I got it for a while now.” Steve shrugged, while Tony nodded along with his own smirk firmly on his face.

“What did you exactly get?” Dean raised an eyebrow at all of them.

“There is no other living creatures on this ship. We are looking at the only living mind in it.” Castiel answered as he pointed at the creature.

The creature’s eyes lighted up at that, which made them look at him in surprise.

“Isn’t it?” Erik asked carefully, as he watched the creature.

He was silent for a second, before a ghost of a smile appeared on his mouth.

_“No, your conclusions are wrong this time.” _

He snapped his fingers, then a loud roar sounded in the room, before the walls behind him lifted slowly.

Their eyes widened in pure shock at what was hidden behind these walls all this time.


	30. Chapter 30

The six of them certainly had seen a lot of things in their lives.

They weren’t ordinary people. They had their fair share of unforgettable scenes in their lives that affected them one way or another.

Steve saw a man remove his face to reveal bloody red skin instead, then seventy years later, saw a hole opening in the sky and a certain Iron Man flew right through it with a missile in his hands.

Tony saw a whole city floating in air, because of a crazy robot he created by his own hands. Saw Captain America’s chest being torn apart by aliens and thrown off of a cliff to die.

Charles saw a blue skinned woman that can shape shift to any form she wants. He saw a man powerful enough to stop hundreds of missiles in midair with only a thought and barley any effort.

Erik saw his mother die in front of him. He saw a crazy man jumping into sea to save his life, then watched the same man being crippled by his own hands.

Dean saw hell. For forty years straight. He saw an angel saving him from there, then saw the same angel that kept dying over and over again for him relentlessly.

Castiel saw the start of creation itself. From the very beginning. He saw the righteous man’s soul shining brightly in hell, then watched him giving his life away continuously for his brother.

Moments over moments that made them who they were at that moment, no matter how tragic, horrifying or amazing it was. Moments that engraved themselves in their bones and remain forever in their minds.

This moment certainly was in the horrifying category.

In front of them was an entire wall made of glass, protecting seventy four transparent cylinders. In each cylinder, lies a creature that was an exact replica to the one standing in front of them then.

Like they were clones from one creature.

And they were either dead or in a very deep sleep.

_“What you are seeing in front of you right now, is the last of the royal dynasty of our planet. The planet we destroyed its nature and resources, until it destroyed all signs of life on it. Just like what will happen to yours.”_ The creature started as he walked in front of the glass wall. _“We knew for a long time that the end was near, after the atmosphere of our planet shrank, and all our technology didn’t manage to save it or save us. So, we built this huge ship with all our last resources, then added to it all these battleships, fake shells and holographic and camouflage technology. Because from our experiences, we knew that size matters in every part in the universe.”_

“You have serious size issues there, dude.” Dean commented snidely, eyes never leaving the glass wall the entire time.

The creature ignored him as he continued: _“When the end came upon us, with the collapse of the atmosphere and the fall of cosmic radiation on our planet, the ship took off, built to remain for centuries in your time, carrying the last of the royal dynasty.”_

“I bet you left everyone else behind to be killed by the radiation mercilessly.” Steve looked at him in disdain.

_“There was no enough room for everyone. It was a priority to save the royal dynasty alone.” _

“Selfish, egotistic, bastards.” Tony growled lowly in anger.

“What you are seeing in front of you is the definition of ‘Selfish, egotistic, bastards’.” Charles commented as he pointed at the cylinders. “They used cloning technology to make their royal dynasty, like they refused to let nature give them its gifts.”

_“What gifts?”_ the creature turned to him with a glare. _“We all came from our great father, who was the pinnacle of perfection. Power, intelligence and-“_

“Nothing is perfect.” Castiel cut him off with a raised eyebrow.

The creature turned his eyes to the angel, eyes filled with deep hatred. _“We set off to space. Looking for a new planet that was fit enough for us to live in, so our race could carry on. It could have happened if it wasn’t for Veer-Zeera.” _

“I am pretty sure there is a Bollywood movie with the same name.” Dean smirked mockingly at the creature.

“No, I think it’s called Veer-Zaara.” Tony corrected with his own smirk taking place on his face.

“Whatever, it was a tragic movie and I still regret the moment I watched it.”

“It’s a Bollywood movie. What did you expect?”

“I liked that movie.” Erik shrugged as he raised his eyebrow at the both of them. “It told a nice story.”

“I thought so, as well. The story was tragic but beautiful.” Castiel commented helpfully.

“I can’t believe you are discussing Bollywood movies right now.” Steve groaned, as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“Come on, Bollywood movies aren’t that bad.” Charles threw in with a smirk.

The creature trailed his eyes over them in deep anger, before deciding to ignore their attempts to frustrate him as he continued. _“Veer-Zeera is one of the viruses that grew in our world at the beginning of our end. It spread through our people like fire, killing millions. We thought, as royalty, that we were immune to it, until we discovered that it penetrated our bodies and death was a sure thing.”_ He turned towards the cylinders then. _“That’s why they took the decision to be frozen, until we find a planet where we can find a cure for the virus.”_

“And you had to stay behind to freeze them all.” Charles said slowly, as he watched him carefully.

He was silent for a moment before answering. _“We did a vote. The choice was set on me to stay awake and freeze the others.” _

“Let me guess, that filled you with anger and hatred, didn’t it?” Charles was smirking, which made the others watch the exchange in surprised confusion.

Each time Charles threw in a comment, the anxiousness in the creature’s eyes increased as he watched the frozen bodies. _“They made me do it, because I was the youngest of them. They left me behind to suffer alone with Veer-Zeera as I search for a planet fit for them to live.”_

“But you will take revenge on all of them. You will destroy all signs of life on any planet you find fit for them, until they are all gone. You never forgave them for what they did to you.”

The creature stared at him for a long time. _“I am blocking your powers with these walls. How can you still read me like this? How are you doing it?” _

“I don’t need my powers to see all the issues leaking out of you.” Charles answered with a raised eyebrow.

_“Then maybe I should kill you first to show you how far my issues can take me.”_

“Don’t you dare to lay a finger on him, you little shit.” Erik growled in anger as he took a step forward.

“Obviously, the only thing you can do is kill and destroy.” Castiel grimaced in disgust at him.

_“It’s my favorite game for a long time now. All you are seeing around you right now is one big artificial intelligence, expert in battle strategies and fighting skills. It prepares the whole plan from beginning to end, after I provide it with all the needed information about the world I am planning to eliminate.”_

“You mean we are not the first world in your bucket list?” Tony frowned at him nervously.

A proud smile appeared on the creature’s mouth. _“I eliminated seven worlds so far.” _

“You sick sadistic bastard, you are actually gloating about how vicious you are?” Dean growled in anger as he marched towards the creature, but Castiel gripped his arm tightly to stop him.

“Dean, calm down.” Castiel hissed at him angrily. “Don’t give him a-“

“Give him what, Castiel?” Erik rounded on him angrily. “You think this little shit will keep our lives after he destroy our planet?”

_“Another wrong conclusion.”_ He interjected slowly. 

“You want to bet on it?” Tony raised an eyebrow at him.

_“I do plan to keep you alive after I end your planet.”_ The creature’s eyes lighted up viciously. _“The thought of watching you after you lost everything. Your home, your family, everywhere you can possibly go to. It gives me indescribable pleasure.”_ Then he trailed his eyes between each couple._ “I know that each two here share a very deep, emotional bond. I can’t wait to watch you as I torture each one in front of their partner, before killing them right in front their eyes. To watch the desperation and pain in your eyes as I break you.”_ his vicious eyes landed on Charles then. _“And I will start with you.”_

Their eyes widened as they froze. Steve and Castiel shared a long look then trailed their eyes towards Erik, who was completely still as he stared hard at the creature.

Then he snapped.

“I will rip you apart you little son of-“ He screamed in pure rage as he marched towards the creature.

“I told you to calm down!” Castiel said sharply as he pulled him back hard.

Erik turned to him in pure rage. “Let go of me!”

Then attacked Castiel violently out of sudden.

***

It was bizarre and completely weird.

Castiel and Erik throwing punches at each other angrily and viciously, might have been one of the weirdest things they ever saw so far.

Mainly because Erik had a deep respect to Castiel, since he jumped after Charles when a portal to another world sucked him, and also because Castiel never loses his temper no matter the situation he was facing.

So what was happening was completely out of character for the both of them.

The three of them took a few steps back in surprise, Charles’ eyes widened in panic at the scene, while the creature’s eyes lightened up in amusement, obviously enjoying every second.

“What? What the hell is happening?!” Dean exclaimed in shock. “What the hell had gotten into you?! Erik lay off him right now!”

His shout landed on deaf ears, as the two of them continue to fight angrily.

“Steve! Aren’t you going to do anything?!” Tony turned his wide eyes at Steve, confused to why he wasn’t interfering.

Steve was staring at his two fighting friends with furrowed brows for a few seconds, silently.

“No.” Steve answered slowly as he took a step back. Shocking his other three companions even more.

“What?” Tony stared at him indignantly.

“Fine. I will do it.” Dean growled and was about to step forward, but Steve gripped his arm and pulled him back firmly.

“Just let it happen.” Steve whispered firmly, making them stare at him in shocked confusion.

In surprising viciousness, Erik and Castiel kept pushing at each other angrily.

Then suddenly, when they were only a few feet away from the creature, they separated from each other and jumped on him at the same moment.

It was a shock even to the six robots.

In less than a second, Erik was grapping the creature with his left arm and wrapping his right one around the alien’s neck tightly.

“Surprise, little shit.” He growled with a wolfish grin on his face.

The robots moved fast and raised their guns at them, but Castiel pushed the creature in front the both of them.

“You want to kill us? You have to go through your master first.” Castiel said firmly.

“Okay, they actually got me for a while there.” Dean exhaled in obvious relief, when he realized the whole fight was only a decoy.

“Smart bastards.” Tony grinned proudly at them.

“It was kinda obvious really.” Steve just shrugged, while Charles seemed to relax a little.

_“Do you think this will make you win_?!” The creature shouted angrily. 

“We knew your robots will not dare to shoot as long as we are making you our shield.” Castiel stated calmly.

_“You are underestimating me!” _

“No, you are underestimating us.” Erik growled as he tightened his arm around the creature’s neck.

_“What you are doing will not save you.” _

“We are willing to take the risk.” Castiel retorted.

_“No, you are not.”_ The creature’s eyes lightened up again. _“Do you know what the best thing in machines is? They don’t have feelings. Unlike you, humans. Emotions always controls you._”

Steve’s burrow furrowed as he pulled Tony and Dean back, covering Charles in return.

_“You might be shielded by my body, but your partners are not!”_ he turned to his robots. _“Kill the others!”_

The moment he barked his order, six guns raised towards Dean, Tony, Steve and Charles.

Steve pushed Tony behind him just, when the guns were raised.

“No!” Castiel screamed as he jumped at the robots with all the anger he was filling, managing to push three of them to the floor with him.

Erik threw the creature aside violently and harshly, as he jumped at the other robots, deflecting a laser beam being shot at him. 

One of the robots punched Castiel hard, throwing him to the ground, then raised its gun to shoot at him.

But Dean slammed against it hard, throwing it towards the glass wall, causing glass shards splattering everywhere.

“Stay behind with Charles!” Steve ordered Tony as he pushed a robot away from them.

“What?! Steve, I can help!” Tony exclaimed indignantly.

“I don’t care! I said stay behind!” Steve screamed desperately, as he fought hard to keep the robots away from them.

Tony stumbled back in shock, then frowned angrily as he rushed towards the panicked Charles and pulling him up to carry most of his weight to move him towards a corner.

“It’s going to be fine, okay? It’s going to be fine.” he murmured frantically, not knowing if he was reassuring Charles or himself.

“You don’t believe that.” Charles muttered bitterly as he was being seated in a corner. Feeling completely useless like always.

Tony turned and saw Steve pushing a robot towards another, without realizing that there was one about to shoot him from behind.

“No!” Tony screamed as he rushed to push the gun away, making the laser beam graze Steve’s neck instead his back.

Meanwhile, Dean and Castiel were fighting two robots at the same time, when one of them shoot at them, they tried to deflect away, but Castiel felt the laser beam pierce through his arm.

“Cas!” Dean shouted frantically as he tried to reach him, but a robot pushed him hard, until he hit a wall.

Erik was desperately trying to keep the robots away from Charles, that he didn’t notice when one of them shoot, until he felt his thigh being torn painfully.

“Erik!” he heard Charles shout as he fell to the ground, groaning in pain. He saw Castiel being thrown towards a wall to land hard on top a fallen Dean, who was trying to get up. Saw Tony being grabbed and thrown towards Steve hard, who caught him before they were both sent to the floor hard.

The robots were strong. Too strong and relentless, and they weren’t in their best shape. That fucker weakened them to be easy targets.

Things got worse when six more robots crashed into the room to join the party.

Before anyone could get back to their feet, all the robots pointed their guns at them. Fingers pushing the triggers.

And there was no possible escape.

They had lost.


	31. Chapter 31

Natasha was setting in the darkness of her and Sam’s room, watching the preparations on a holoscreen, but still couldn’t bring herself to meet up with the team until it was time.

She needs a moment to just think. To mourn. To grief.

No one was trying to talk about it, but it was a constant huge elephant in the room, that they were all trying to ignore until they deal with this.

They couldn’t think about their huge loss just yet. But she couldn’t ignore it anymore.

She was tired of ignoring the fact that Team Space was gone.

There was no way they could have survived the vicious attack on their shuttle.

They are gone. They will never come home.

She felt tears slid down her face, not even trying to hold them back anymore.

Each one of them meant a great deal to her, no matter how much she tried to hide it.

Steve was one of the reasons why she stayed in the Tower in the first place. They were both broken in the beginning. They went through a lot together and on their own. He was a brother to her. She was his ‘Best Man’ on his wedding. The wedding that she will forever deny that it actually made her tear up. Because she had always cared for Tony, since she was pretending to be his assistant. It was hard not to care for the genius really. Seeing him happy with Steve. Seeing the both of them so happy together, always managed to warm her heart. 

She knew Charles Xavier for years. She met him a few days after she met Tony. He was broken then. Just freshly losing everything. His legs, his sister and his love. But she saw him preparing his home to become a special school for Mutants. A safe haven. A way to make him try and forget what he lost. He was always kind, gentle, even with how pained and broken he was then. Then Erik Lehnsherr came back to him. Dropping on his knees in front of him, as he begged for his forgiveness, crying as he held on to him like a lifeline. Like he was dead for months and only then did he feel alive. Their wedding was the second time she ever let herself tear up.

As for the two Winchesters, her only regret was that she hadn’t met them sooner. She wished to see them in their beginning. How they fell in love. The pain they endured. The happiness they brought to each other. Their wedding. She wished she had seen all of that. Wished she had a part of their lives longer than that. She was looking forward to her own wedding. To become a Winchester. To become Dean’s sister. To be an official part of their family. To see Dean embarrass Sam in his own wedding. To see Castiel’s fond smile as he watched Dean’s embarrassing Best Man speech. Watching Sam getting red from both frustration and embarrassment. Wanted to be part of that family.

But all of this was gone. Six important men in her life were gone. They will never come back.

All because she didn’t check the reprogramming of the fucking shuttle before they took off.

It was her fault.

She didn’t look up when she heard the door opening, already knowing who it was and couldn’t bring herself to look in his eyes.

“Nat?” Sam called gently to her as he approached. “Everyone is ready. All the fronts are ready to go. It’s time.”

“Alright.” She nodded as she stood up to walk towards him and stopped right in front of him. She will probably will never get used to how tall Sam really was. He had over eleven inches on her. It had never bothered her. On the contrary, it made him feel real. Safe. Home. Like there was nothing that could touch him or harm him.

“Do you think we will ever see them again?” she murmured, not really looking at him directly.

Sam was quiet for a few seconds before sighing. “They had faced much worse situations.”

“They can’t escape death every time, Sam.” She looked away to hide her pained face.

“Anything is possible.” he stated in determination, she felt his eyes trail over her for a few seconds, studying her carefully. “For a while there I thought you and Dean would have killed each other at any moment.”

She managed a ghost of a smile on her face as she looked up at him. “Your brother is an asshole, but I would never harm a hair on his head.”

“Because Cas would have murdered you?” Sam raised an eyebrow with a small smile.

“Because he is family.” She whispered softly. “They all are.”

Sam went quiet, then pulled her gently in his arms and she rested her head on his chest. They stayed like that for a few seconds.

“It’s my fault, Sam.” She sighed tiredly into his chest. “If I have checked that bastard’s work before-“

“Hey, no, that’s not true.” She felt him shake his head firmly. “No one is to be blamed here. Who knows what had happened? Maybe if the virus was removed from the shuttle, another virus would have been activated.” he pulled her face away a little so she could meet his eyes. “It was no one’s fault, Nat.”

She sighed again and they just leaned against each other for a while.

“Everyone is waiting.” He whispered quietly.

“Then we need to go and get this show on the road.”

***

The chances of them winning against a dozen of indestructible robots in their weakened state was pretty low from the beginning.

Machines moves faster and relentlessly, with no feelings or emotions. Only aiming for one purpose.

To kill their enemy no matter what.

Maybe there would have been hope for them if they were in their usual strength.

But they were weakened and unarmed.

The chances of them winning this fight was low and they knew it.

All of that passed through Steve’s mind, as he watched helplessly two guns being raised toward him and Tony as they laid on the floor, blood slowly falling down Steve’s neck and Tony clutching his left arm in obvious pain. Another robots about to shoot Erik on the floor, since he was unable to get up from the obvious wound in his thigh and no powers to save him. Dean and Castiel were trying to get up, blood covering the angel’s right arm and the side of the hunter’s face. Robots were surrounding them from all directions and about to shoot them in any second.

Steve braced himself and already imagined the laser beams reaping each one of them mercilessly.

But then, the twelve robots suddenly jolted, eyes glowing hard, then stopped entirely and just stood there like statues. 

“What-What just happened?” Dean blinked as he looked around in confusion, clutching his head in pain.

“Tony, was that you?” Castiel called out as he tightened his grip on his bleeding arm.

“No, I didn’t do this.” Tony looked just as confused as everyone.

“I did.” Came Charles’ strained voice. They all turned to him in shock to see him dropping his hold from a metal bar he was using to heave himself up, then slump down on the floor. “I stopped them.”

“Stopped them? But how?” Erik was gaping at him in both awe and confusion.

“Charles, how did you get over there from here?” Tony asked in surprise, pointing at the corner he left Charles in, then towards the Telepath’s current location, behind the broken glass wall were the cylinders were.

“I crawled.” He answered shortly, looking down at his lap.

“You crawled?!” Erik’s eyes almost bulged as they noticed the bleeding cuts and bruises in Charles’ arms and legs from crawling over broken glass. They were almost sure Erik was two seconds away from passing out because of the scene.

“How did you stop the robots, Charles?” Steve repeated Erik’s earlier question more firmly. 

There was a strange, pained look on Charles’ face as he answered without meeting anyone’s eyes. “I released a special frequency. It paralyzed their machines and stopped it.”

“Where did you get that frequency, dude? We have no equipment with us.” Dean asked carefully.

Charles pointed silently behind him at the computer that was responsible to keep the seventy four frozen creatures alive. The Telepath’s body was tense, as he kept staring firmly at the floor.

“You-you detached the computer from them to save us!” Tony exclaimed with wide awed eyes.

“I didn’t have any other choice!” Charles snapped suddenly as he looked at him, pain obvious on his face. “I had only one choice. It was either us or them. I didn’t have a choice.” He let out a slightly hysterical laugh as a tear slid down his face. “My first kill is seventy four creature at the same time. I think I just broke a national record. Managing to end an entire race in my first kill. I am on a roll here.”

Steve’s heart ached at the bitterness dripping from his voice. Dean and Castiel were watching him sadly, while Tony looked helplessly at him.

Erik ignored his wounded leg, as he crawled towards Charles as fast as he could manage to pull him in his arms tightly in an attempt to reassure him. The telepath leaned heavily into his arms, burying his face in his husband’s chest.

“I didn’t have a choice, Erik.” Charles repeated tearfully, wrapping his own arms around Erik tightly. “I couldn’t lose you. I couldn’t lose anyone here.”

“I know, liebling. I know.” Erik whispered in his hair, pressing a kiss there. “You did the right thing. It’s alright.”

“He is right.” Steve stated firmly. “You saved our lives, Charles. If it wasn’t for you, we would have all been dead by now.”

“Besides, I think its poetic justice.” Tony shrugged with a small smile.

“That’s right, they got what they deserve for what they did to their own people.” Castiel confirmed firmly.

“Yeah, karma is a bitch.” Dean smirked, earning a few chuckles. “By the way, that was pretty badass, dude. Don’t ever forget that.”

Charles looked up at him, then trailed his eyes over all of them, giving them a grateful look, while still wrapped in Erik’s arms tightly, neither of them willing to let go.

“Are you okay?” Dean asked Castiel in concern as he eyed his bloody arm.

“I will be.” He answered reassuringly, eyeing Steve as he checked on Tony’s damaged arm carefully as well.

“Shit! Where did that little shit go?” Tony exclaimed suddenly, looking around the room frantically.

They all tensed as they looked around as well in surprise.

“That son of a bitch!” Dean growled in anger, when they found no trace of him.

They heard a loud, manic laugh coming from around them then. _“I am here. Somewhere around my ship, that you will never find! Don’t think all of this means that you won! Impossible! No human can defeat me! My brothers did get what they deserve! Meanwhile, I will live until the last drop of blood that virus waste away!”_

“I wish that you will suffer in each second, bastard!” Erik growled in rage, as he glared up at the ceiling where the voice was coming from.

_“At least I will live longer than you. I am inside my ship. My home. While you are light years away from your home with no way to go back to it.”_

“Who knows?” Steve stated firmly.

_“Me! _I_ know!”_ then his voice became deeper and more metallic. _“And I know that it is your end!”_

Just when he said that, they heard the sound of heavy, metallic footsteps getting closer to the room they were in.

An explosion sounded that destroyed the door of the room completely.

Revealing over forty robots with large laser guns.

The creature’s maniac laughter surrounded them.

_“You lost, humans! You lost!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last cliffhanger. Promise!


	32. Chapter 32

Suddenly, the whole ship started to shake violently, and a loud Noise sounded from everywhere around them.

Steve and Castiel dropped to the floor like puppets with no strings at the same time, their entire bodies were shaking hard as a look of pure pain itched on their faces.

“Oh, God.” Tony whispered with wide eyes after he and Dean dropped next to their suffering husbands. “Something very powerful just breached the Stars Passage!”

The army of robots stopped, then turned on their heels suddenly and rushed out of the room, completely ignoring them. Their priority must be to defend the ship first before anything.

“We need to follow them.” Steve grounded out, as he pushed himself to his feet with effort. “It must be what I am expecting.”

Dean helped Castiel up, then Steve and Dean rushed to help Erik back to his feet and pull his arms over their shoulders. Castiel and Tony moved to do the same with Charles, both careful to not put any pressure on their wounded arms.

They ran out of the room, through a corridor, until they reached another wider room with glass walls that showed the endless space outside.

“What were you expecting, Steve?” Tony asked in confusion.

Obvious relief was evident on both Castiel and Steve’s faces as they watched the space outside.

“For help to come from Earth.” Castiel was the one to answer with a small relieved smile.

They turned to the glass wall only to stare with wonder and awe at the scene.

A huge crack appeared through space, from which appeared huge swarms of Earth’s battleships.

More than two hundred thousand battleships, carrying almost all of Earth’s countries’ flags on them. The Avengers and X-Men’s logos were on the front, leading the huge army as they attacked the invaders’ battleships.

The entire Earth’s fleet was attacking. Hard. Dropping the invaders’ real battleships like flies.

Through the invaders’ ship’s comms, they heard Natasha’s strong voice: “This message is being sent on all wavelengths possible. This is the Earth’s Space Fleet, we are ordering you to surrender immediately with no conditions, or we will eliminate you to kingdom’s come. I repeat, surrender now with no conditions, or die.”

“This is the most beautiful scene I have ever seen.” Tony murmured with a huge happy grin on his face.

“Mutants and Humans, fighting together to save the Earth.” Charles whispered reverently with wide eyes.

“Never thought that will ever happen, but here we are.” Erik said in wonder, watching everything in shock.

“I think they finally got the message.” Castiel smiled as he watched the invaders’ battleships as they fall.

“The message you sent?” Dean whispered in awe.

“No, the most important message, Dean.” Castiel turned to him with a smile. “Unity is power.”

They were silent for a while, watching the cloud that shrouded their lives for a while now finally clearing.

“We won.” Steve whispered softly, a grin forming on his face. “Guys, we won. We got our future back.”

***

“We didn’t find a trace of that creature you met, guys.”

Natasha announced with a frown, facing the whole team in the Tower. They were all huddled close with almost no space between anyone. Their glee of finding Team Space alive and well still didn’t go away and the whole team were surrounding the six of them like a protective shield. Unwilling to stay away after all what happened.

“We found Steve’s shield, Tony’s suit, Charles’ chair and all the weapons that were taken from you, but we found nothing else.”

“Did you search the ship well?” Castiel asked, while adjusting the sling around his arm, then leaned closer to Dean’s body tiredly.

“Every inch in it, after we took over everything. He disappeared without leaving a trace behind him.”

“Maybe he choose to end his life somehow?” Erik suggested as he winced a little when he moved his wounded leg, sighing contently, when Charles raked his fingers through his hair gently. 

“Most importantly is that he is gone after losing everything.” Steve stated firmly, pulling Tony’s relaxed body closer to his.

A small smile appeared on Natasha’s face as she watched them, realizing that everyone else is doing the same, as they all watched the six men.

“You have no idea how glad I am that you are not dead.” Sam grinned at his brother in pure happiness. “It would have been a pain to find another Best Man! The decision would have been hard, and lots of hearts would have been broken, if I made the wrong choice.”

“Admit it, I am the only one fit for that position, dude.” Dean grinned back at him cheekily.

Sam’s grin softened then as he looked at his brother happily. “Yeah, you are.” He murmured quietly. “It wouldn’t be the same without you and Cas there.”

Dean was startled for a second at the honesty, before knocking his brother’s shoulder with his own playfully. A little smile on his face. Castiel just smiled at the both of them, but seemed to be distracted.

“I guess now you can finally plan your wedding.” Clint announced happily.

“Yeah, just get it over with, I am dying to embarrass you on that day as a revenge to what happened in mine.” Tony smirked at Natasha as he burrowed closer to Steve’s warmth, enjoying the vibrations from his husband’s laugh travelling through his own body.

“What happened in your wedding was not my fault.” Natasha rolled her eyes at him fondly.

“You threw a cake at my face! Our wedding cake!”

“Actually that was me.” Steve gave him an apologetic smile that was everything but apologetic.

Tony turned to him with a mock betrayed look. “Traitor!”

“I thought it was funny!”

“Betrayed by my own husband on our wedding day! Stabbed in the back by who I trust the most! What more secrets have you been hiding from me, Captain Golden Heart? You are secretly a Hydra agent or something?!”

“Please, tell me you got the cake thing on video.” Dean was grinning as he watched the exchange in amusement.

“I recorded it.” Clint grinned back at him. “Also Rhodey, Natasha and Charles did.”

“Charles!” Tony exclaimed, as he turned a glare at the telepath, who pretended to be very interested in the ceiling.

“I have no idea what they are talking about.” He said innocently, shoving a plate of sandwiches, which Erik made earlier, into his face. “Sandwich?”

“You are all traitors! Each one of you!”

Everyone laughed as Tony continued to call everyone fucking traitors, while trying to keep his own laugh hidden and failing.

After they calmed down a little while later, they finally addressed one final issue.

“What about the Stars Passage?” Bruce asked curiously as he looked over at Steve. “As long as it is there, we will always be threatened.”

“That’s why all countries agreed to close it forever.” Steve announced firmly. “We might not be able to use it for our benefits anymore, but it will not bring any other dangers to us.”

“And they agreed to let us be the ones to close it.” Tony added with smile. “Looks like there will be a Stars Passage Closing Team. Banner, McCoy, Xavier and Winchester, we have a job to do.”

“God, dude, why do you always think I am some kind of a hidden genius?” Dean rolled his eyes in mock frustration. “How the hell am I supposed to help in closing that thing?”

“I think he just likes it when you are around.” Thor commented teasingly.

“No, I do not!” Tony sputtered indignantly, but Dean was leering at him anyway.

“Ohhh, that’s sweet.” Dean was grinning cheekily at him. Smugness filling him to the brim. “Can’t blame you, I am fun to be around.”

“You are a pain in the ass, that’s what you are!”

“A fun pain in the ass! Always making the room lights up even more, when I enter it. I am a sweet breeze in anyone’s life. I am the jelly to your peanut butter sandwich. I am the-”

“Oh my God, you are never going to stop are you?” Tony groaned as he hid his face in his hands. Raising his middle finger at his team, who kept laughing uncontrollably at the both of them. 

“I am the sail to your boat. I am the straw to you berry. The rain to your bow. The apple to your pie. The sho-“

Steve toned out as Tony pretty much tackled Dean to the floor to make him stop, while the hunter just kept talking teasingly as he pushed at the genius, to keep him away from covering his mouth, the others making no move to breaking them apart.

Steve focused instead on Castiel. The angel was distracted, completely unaware of anything happening around him. Just kept pasting a smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes, as he pretended to be there with them.

But Steve knew that the angel had something on his mind that wasn’t letting him to be genuinely happy about their win.

And he had a pretty good idea what was on Castiel’s mind.

***

Later that night, after everyone went to their beds, ready to finally get a well-deserved sleep without death looming over their heads, Erik stirred suddenly.

Tony had a room for each one of them, obviously. A room for Charles and Erik, one for Logan, one for Hank and one for Raven, but she never uses it since she was always in Charlie’s room anyway.

He wasn’t sure what woke him at first, but then he looked to the side to find himself looking at Charles’ naked, hunched back as he sat on the bed, head in his hands.

Obviously, the first thing each couple did the moment they closed a door behind them was jumping each other happily. Erik and Charles were no different. It was a relief to press himself into his love again. To feel his warmth and softness around him. To feel him _alive_ after almost losing him several times this week alone. It was relieving and comforting that Erik wished he could stay in this bed forever with Charles and never have to get out to the cruel world ever again.

He just wished that he didn’t hear the muted sounds of Tony and Steve, Dean and Castiel, going at it as well, since the formers’ room were on their right and the latters’ on their left, so there was no escape whatsoever. It was muted and only there if you focused enough, but there nonetheless. 

He didn’t care though. He focused solely on Charles and Charles alone. Like always. 

He sat up with a groan after he moved his wounded thigh a little. No wonder it hurts, he did a lot of action a few hours ago. Worth it, though.

“Charles?” he whispered softly, pulling the telepath closer to him, trying to gently remove his hands from his face. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“Yes, Erik, I am fine.” he sighed as he lowered his hands to his lap. Even in the dark, Erik could clearly see his red eyes from unshed tears.

He gently moved Charles, so he was facing him, cupping his chin to make him meet his eyes. “Tell me what’s wrong. Please?”

Charles looked up at him. He could see guilt and pain in those blue eyes. He hated it.

“How did you handle it?” Charles whispered brokenly, body leaning against Erik’s.

“Handle what, sweetheart?”

“Taking a life for the first time.” Charles buried his face into Erik’s chest, seeking his comfort.

“It gets easier in time.” Erik sighed as he wrapped his arms around him, pressing a kiss on the top of his head. “I killed to save my life. To survive. Killed for revenge. Don’t get me wrong, there are deaths I will always regret, but like I said, it gets easier to ignore the guilt.” He hesitated for a second, before asking. “Do you regret it?”

“What?” Charles pulled his face away to look up at him.

“Do you regret doing it? Regret-regret saving us? Saving me?” he whispered in a small voice, a part of him was afraid of the answer.

“What? No, Erik, I don’t regret saving you. How can you think that?” Charles frowned at him in confusion. “I might feel guilty for taking so many lives, but I will never regret it. I made the right choice. I saved my family. I saved you.”

“It’s just-I-“ Erik stuttered a little as he looked away a little guiltily.

Charles watched him for a few seconds, before understanding even without having to read Erik’s mind. “You didn’t think I am able to kill for you?”

“I am not doubting your love, Charles.” Erik sighed as he met his eyes again. “But I know your beliefs. How good you are. That you were never able to hurt anyone, even when they hurt you. I just never thought-“

“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough for you.” Charles cut him off calmly, before placing a hand against Erik’s chest to shove him back on the bed. He crawled up on him, so his upper body was completely covering Erik’s, as he stared down at him hard. “I will say it clearly for you, Erik Lehnsherr. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, I wouldn’t do, so I won’t lose you. I would throw my beliefs, my morals away, if that will keep you alive. With no ounce of regret. Do I make myself clear enough for you?”

“Crystal.” Erik smiled softly, as he trailed his hand down the side of his husband’s face gently, unable to believe how lucky he was to have that beautiful being all to himself. “I love you.”

“Yes, I know.” Charles smiled as he moved to rest his head on Erik’s chest with a content sigh.

“And you love me.”

“I know that too.”

***

A week later, Castiel made his way down to Tony’s workshop after making a decision.

He was glad to see him alone in there, probably Stars Passage Closing Team was getting something to eat after being coped up down here for hours, he just left Dean in the kitchen, wolfing down anything he finds in the fridge, barley noticing Castiel’s gentle kiss on the top of his head as he made his way out of the room.

What was confusing though, was the fact that he found the wall that was hiding the Time Ship opened and Tony inside that said ship.

He made his way towards him, only to see the genius staring at a blank screen inside the ship with a deep frown on his face.

“Tony?” he called out carefully, confused at the scene.

The genius jumped, startled, as he turned to Castiel with wide eyes. “God, Cas, wear a bell or something.” He huffed out a breath to calm himself.

“I have been here for almost five minutes.” The angel pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

“Not my fault that you are as silent as a ninja.” Tony rolled his eyes but managed to smile at him. “You need something? Or Steve sent you to make sure I am still alive?”

“Both.” Castiel answered with a soft smile, then trailed his eyes around the inside of the Time Ship. “Is something wrong with the Time Ship?”

“What? Oh, no, nothing wrong.” He shook his head, but frowned again at the blank screen. “I was just kind of hoping to see something, a sign, but nothing.” He murmured, probably talking to himself more than to Castiel.

The angel didn’t try to ask what he was hoping to see. 

“Anyway.” Tony sighed as he focused on him again. “What do you need?”

“I need a favor, Tony.” Castiel met his eyes fall on, to indicate how serious the favor was.

“Of course, Cas. Anything you need.” He nodded as he stepped towards the angel, giving him his fall attention.

“What I am going to ask from you, it needs to be between you and me alone. No one in the team must know, especially Dean, alright?”

“Uhm, Cas, I am not that good at keeping secrets.” Tony winced a little guiltily.

“I will tell them myself when it is time, but until then, they can’t know. I am trusting you on this.”

Tony studied him silently for a few seconds, probably starting to understand what Castiel was about to ask from him.

“You are planning to go there.” It wasn’t a question, Tony was just stating a fact.

“Yes.” The angel answered anyway.

“Alone?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because it was my promise. My responsibly. I have to do it alone.”

Tony didn’t answer for a few minutes, before shrugging and turned again towards the blank screen.

“I guess we will see about that.” he murmured quietly, then turned back to him. “I will start working on it from today. Give me two weeks at most.”

“Thank you, Tony.” Castiel smiled gratefully at him.

“Dean will be pissed, you know.”

“Isn’t he always?”

“Good point.”

***

“You want to do what?!”

Dean yelled indignantly at his face a month later, when he announced to the whole team what he was planning to do.

“I will go to the Mirror World’s past to save it.” Castiel repeated patiently, he was preparing for a month to face Dean’s imminent rage at his decision.

“Yeah, I heard from the first time.” Dean barked angrily, rage evident in every move he made. “How the hell are you planning to go there anyway?! Stepping through a mirror or something?”

“No, Tony modified the Time Ship to be able to travel there as well.”

Dean turned his indignant glare on Tony, who winced as he refused to meet the hunter’s eyes.

“You knew about this for a while and didn’t think about telling me?” Dean glared hard at the genius, if looks could kill, Tony would have turned into ashes by now. “And you helped him to carry out that plan?!”

The whole team was watching the exchange silently, probably trying to avoid being in the crossfire of Dean’s anger.

Dean was intimidating when he was enraged. 

“I promised him not to tell, Dean.” Tony muttered, scooting away from Dean, as he probably felt the hunter’s glare forming a hole in him. “He asked a favor from me. I had to do it.”

“If it’s a favor that will get him killed, then you don’t do it! And I don’t care about a fucking promise, you should have told me, instead of cooperating with him behind my back!” Dean was full on shouting now, fists clinching on the back of the chair in front of him.

“I know, I am sorry, okay! I couldn’t betray his trust like that!” Tony groaned, as he covered his face in frustration. 

“Dean, will you just calm down, so we can think about this?” Steve interjected quietly, trying to calm the hunter a little without turning all that anger on him instead.

“There’s nothing to think about! This is not happening!”

“I made my decision, Dean.” Castiel stated stubbornly, ignoring half of the team as they gestured for him to shut up.

“Let me get this straight; You want to go alone to a Mirror World, where you will be graceless and will die if you stayed for too long, then try to convince the Mirror team there that you are from the future from a Mirror World, where our Mirror selves will definitely think you are crazy and will kill you or prison you. Even if they believed you, you want to face the invaders again that we barely escaped from only a month ago, all of this on your own, and you want me to fucking be okay with it?! Are you fucking crazy or you just want to kill me?! Why are you so desperate to get yourself killed, Cas?!” Dean shouted, his voice ringing in the silent room like thunder, making everyone flinch at the pure rage in his voice.

“Because I made a promise, Dean.” Castiel stepped forward, standing his ground stubbornly, not letting Dean’s rage faze him. “I made him a promise to save his world. If it wasn’t for him, we would have all suffered the same fate as his world. His whole team asked him to save them, as they sacrificed themselves for him. He didn’t deserve such an end, they all didn’t. Our worlds have been aligned forever, it’s not fair for us to survive and they don’t! They deserve to get their future back, Dean! They deserve to live too!”

Everyone stood frozen after Castiel’s outburst, watching Dean carefully as he stared back stonily at Castiel. They could almost hear the war happening inside his head at that moment.

“Dammit!” Dean shouted and slammed his fist hard on the table in front of him, that they were surprised it didn’t break under the assault. “Fucking dammit.” He shouted again, before facing the angel and pointed a finger at him. “You are not going fucking anywhere without me.”

“Dean, no, I-“

“You are not going alone, Cas.” Steve raised an eyebrow at him, crossing his arms across his chest stubbornly. “We’re coming.”

“No, Steve. I have to do this alone.”

“No, you don’t.” Erik shrugged from where he was leaning against the wall behind Charles. “There’s no convincing reason for you to do it alone.”

“We all owe Mirror Castiel our lives. It is not fair for you to carry that burden alone.” Thor added firmly.

“You don’t have to do anything alone, Cas.” Sam stated with a small smile. “You know we will follow you wherever you go.”

“I can’t ask that from any of you.” Castiel huffed in frustration. “I can’t ask you to come and risk your lives again, after barley saving it only a month ago.”

“It is my ship, Feathers. I was planning to come with you from the beginning.” Tony rolled his eyes at him.

“And you don’t have to ask us. I will.” Steve shrugged as he turned to face the team. “Who is willing to go on a mission to save the Mirror World?”

All the Avengers, Winchesters and X-Men in the room raised their hands with a smug smirk at Castiel, who stood there staring dumbly, not sure what to do.

Dean took pity on him and came forward to take his hand gently.

“I told you before, asshole.” Dean raised his eyebrows at him, but gave a small warm smile. “It’s not just you anymore. It’s always going to be a ‘We’.”

Castiel returned his smile, before pressing his lips against his softly. “Thank you.” he murmured against his lips.

“Well, I guess we should go pack.” Dean announced after he pulled away.

“Oh, we’re already packed!” Charles announced with a grin, as each one of the room leaned down to reveal their hidden bags with sheepish grins. Even Sam, who had two duffle bags, obviously already packed Dean’s bag for him.

Dean and Castiel blinked at them blankly for a few seconds.

“Tony!” Castiel snapped with a scowl the genius’ way.

“I told you I am terrible at keeping secrets!” Tony defended with a roll of his eyes. “Besides, I only told Steve, when he stared at me for too long the moment he sensed I was hiding something. Then told Charles, when he did the same thing to me. It’s not my fault they both have loud mouths and told everyone else!” he glared at the aforementioned two, who just blinked back at him innocently. “On the bright side, Dean remained in the dark like you wanted!”

“I am still mad about that, by the way.” Dean frowned at Tony, who looked apologetically at him.

“Well, if we are all ready, I don’t see any reason for us to waste time.” Logan stated, throwing his duffle bag over his shoulder.

Castiel trailed his eyes over his family for a few seconds.

“You are all sure about this?” they all nodded with raised eyebrows at him. “Alright.” He sighed then straightened up. “We will head out right away.”

***

He woke up slowly.

He couldn’t remember anything for a few moments. Even his own name.

He only remembered an empty. An endless and complete emptiness. Like he was nothing and will forever be forgotten.

Before that emptiness, he remembered looking into blue eyes, a mirror image of his own, begging their owner for something.

Something important.

He stared at the ceiling blankly. He knows this room somehow. He didn’t remember why.

He couldn’t remember anything.

He felt warmth by his side that made him turn his head to see what it was.

He found himself staring at a sleeping face. He knows that face very well.

That face died in his arms. 

With that, he sat bolt upright on the bed, eyes wide as everything came to him all at once, like a dame just broke in his mind.

He died.

Everyone he ever loved died.

He was in the Empty. Awake. Alone. Until he went mad.

Was this a dream or all that happened was the dream?

Confusion was filling him, as he scrambled to understand without waking the body next to him.

Maybe if he woke up, all of that will be taken away from him again.

He jumped when he saw something coming out of a corner in the room. He didn’t know how he didn’t notice that presence before now.

He stared until the figure moved into the slight light that came from the large floor to ceiling windows in the room.

Only to find that he was staring at himself.

Or rather a splitting mirror image from himself. 

“Hello, Castiel.” Castiel greeted softly, as he regarded him carefully from across the room. 

Mirror Castiel stared back at him from the bed for a full minute, completely frozen.

“That wasn’t a dream, was it?” he finally uttered in a strained voice, already knowing the answer of his own question.

“I am afraid not.” Castiel sighed sadly, with a shake of his head. “I wish it was, though.”

“I died.” He whispered, eyes not able to stay on anything for too long. “Everyone died. Is this-is this heaven?”

“No, it’s not.” The one standing shook his head again as he took a step forward. “This isn’t heaven. This isn’t hell, Purgatory or even the Empty. You are in your home. On Earth. Back with your family.”

This time he stared for far too long at his Mirror version. Unable to comprehend or understand how any of this could be possible. Didn’t want to believe it, but also desperately needs to believe it.

“You fulfilled your promise.” He whispered as he stared in awe at the other. “You-you did this.”

“We always keep our promises, you know that.” Castiel smiled at the other, who was still staring at him in awe. “I owe you the life of my world. Without your help, we would have all fallen as well. It wasn’t fair for us to live and move on. You know how it is, a life for a life. My debt is repaid.”

“So, everything is back? The world did not end?” he whispered, not daring to hope.

“The invaders are defeated a week ago. The team and the world are intact. Our worlds are aligned again, like they always did.”

“Why can I still remember what happened? Why can’t I remember how the invaders’ were defeated and what happened in that week?”

“What happened in that week will come back to you in a day or two. Also, if you focused your hearing a little, you will hear Steve comforting Tony after a nightmare, even though he had the exact same nightmare himself. Same thing in Charles and Erik’s room and so on. After I leave, your Dean will wake up with the same nightmare. They all will think what happened was just a nightmare. Only you will know that it wasn’t. That it was your fate, but it was altered. I am the one who let you remember. Who let everyone remember. Your job is to tell them the truth. To tell them that it wasn’t just a nightmare. That it was real for a while.” 

“But why?” he asked in confusion. “I understand why you would let me remember, but why them?”

“Because it shouldn’t be your burden alone. They deserve to know. Deserve to share the pain. We are not alone anymore, Castiel. We don’t have to suffer alone. We don’t have to carry burdens alone. We have a family now. They deserve to know everything.”

A tear slid down Mirror Castiel’s cheek, as he looked at the other with barley contained joy.

“Thank you.” he whispered wetly, tears covering his face now. “Thank you. Just thank you.”

“No. Thank _you_.” Castiel smiled warmly back at him. “Thank you for saving our lives, even though you didn’t have to. We will always remember that.”

“And I will always remember you.” he murmured softly, feeling lighter than air.

Castiel turned to look at the window then. “I have to go. You know first-hand that we can’t stay in each other’s worlds for long.”

“Of course.” He whispered with a faint smile.

The other walked towards the door, paused then looked back at him. 

“This isn’t goodbye.” He stated firmly. “We know how to travel through our worlds now. We will look out for each other. Defeat any threat that comes our way. Remember that we will always be ready to help.”

“Same for us.” He nodded back at him equally firmly. “This isn’t a goodbye then. I will see you soon.”

“I know this is oddly self-serving, but I will say it anyway.” Castiel smiled slyly from the door, as he raised his hand with the palm forward and the thumb extended, while the fingers are parted between the middle and ring finger in a Vulcan Salute that would make Dean proud. “Live Long and Prosper.”

“I understood that reference.” The other couldn’t help the wet chuckle he let out, as he copied the salute with a grin.

With one last smile, Castiel slipped out of the room quietly. Footsteps barley hearable as he left the building.

Mirror Castiel found himself staring at the closed door, long after his doppelganger had left.

He only looked away, when Dean, suddenly, woke up and sat bolt upright in the bed, while panting hard.

“Cas?!” he gasped sharply when his eyes landed on him, his hands flew out to reach for him. 

He let Dean pull him in his arms frantically, clutching him like he would disappear if he let go.

“Shh, it’s okay.” he whispered, as he pulled Dean just as tightly towards him. “It’s okay.”

“Cas, we-I di-Everyone die-what-“ he stuttered, unable to make up a full sentence.

“I know, Dean. I know.” He murmured softly, pulling him so they laid back on the bed, arms wrapped tightly around each other like a lifeline. “It’s okay now. It’s over. It’s all over, Dean. We’re safe. We’re alive.”

***

Castiel walked towards where his team was waiting for him with the Time Ship. A small, satisfied smile on his face.

The moment they saw him, they straightened up to look at him expectantly.

“All done?” Steve asked carefully, hopefully.

“Everything is intact.” He nodded, the smile spreading on his face. “We can go home now.”

They all relaxed in relief as they grinned at him. Steve took Tony’s hand as they moved towards the Time Ship, followed by Charles and Erik, who winked at him with smiles on their faces. Then Bruce and Thor, Sam and Natasha, Clint, Bucky, Raven, Hank and Logan followed them inside, after saluting Castiel one way or another.

Dean stepped towards him, reaching out to slip his fingers between Castiel’s with a small, fond smile.

“Let’s go home, Cas.” He whispered affectionately. Placing a soft kiss on the back of his hand.

“Yes, Dean.” Castiel whispered back, resting his forehead against his husband’s in relief. “Let’s go home.”

***

Two days later after they returned from the Mirror World triumphantly, Tony trudged down towards his Workshop, too restless to sleep, which will probably lead Steve to come down and drag him to bed again after an hour or two. 

He wasn’t sure what was making him so restless anyway. They managed to close The Stars Passage forever. They saved their world and the Mirror World. His husband was safe and sound. There was no reason for him to be agitated and restless still.

Everyone was asleep. Charles, Erik, Hank, Logan and Raven all left to go back to Westchester yesterday, claiming that they left the children back home for far too long, promising to come back a few days later, after making sure that the children didn’t kill each other in their absence.

The rest of the team choose to sleep off all the stress of what happened. Also, their bodies were still aching after being in the Mirror World for longer than they should have.

Well, his body was aching for slightly different reasons, he smirked in satisfaction, remembering how Steve kept jumping him in every chance they get, on any surface they found in the past month after they came back from space. Seeming to not care if they got caught anymore. Too desperate to always feel Tony’s presence, one way or another. He loved that part of his husband whenever it came out. No matter how sore he was. It was definitely the best kind of sore really.

“Sir, there is a message for you.” JARVIS’ voice cut through his daydream about Steve.

“A message?” Tony frowned in confusion. “It’s three in the morning. Who will send a message right now?” he just shook his head then. “If it’s not urgent just leave it till morning. Not really in the mood.”

“Sir.” There was something in the way the AI said that word that made Tony straight up in alert. “The message came to the Time Ship.”

He froze for a few minutes, heart banging loudly in his chest.

Could it be?

“Wake Dean up and tell him to come down here right now.” Tony ordered as he marched towards the Time Ship, while convincing himself that he wasn’t running. “He needs to see this too.”

“Mr. Winchester is asleep, sir. I don’t think it’d would be wise to-“

“Wake him, Jay. I am sure he won’t be mad for long.” Tony rolled his eyes at his AI. He couldn’t blame him, waking Dean up was like waking an angry bear.

“As you wish, sir.”

Tony kept staring at the screen that was announcing the message the entire ten minutes it took Dean to come down to the workshop. Not daring to open the message alone. Or rather too scared.

“Tony?” Dean’s still sleepy voice called out from the workshop.

“In here.” He called out in a strained voice. He could hear Dean’s footsteps echoing in the room as he made his way towards the Time Ship.

“This is better be good.” Dean growled, as he stepped inside, while he rubbed his eyes with his hands to wake himself up. His hair was still wild. Tony didn’t want to know if it was because of sleep or from other Activities. “I need my beauty sleep. I am not a night owl like you, Tin Can. I need-“ he looked up then to see the frozen genius as he stared at the screen. He was immediately more awake. “Tony, what is it?” 

“A message came in.” Tony whispered as he looked over at him. “A message from the future.”

Dean stared back at him as he took a shuddering breath. “Okay. Okay. Did you-did you open it?”

“No, I was waiting for your sleeping ass.”

“Well, my sleeping ass is awake now, so get on with it.” he walked over so he was now standing next to Tony, both staring at the screen now. “Ready?”

Tony hesitated for a second, before nodding.

“Open it.”

His hand flew to press the message’s notification, before he could change his mind.

The message opened before them and they held their breaths as they read.

_‘I won’t even dare to ask how you managed to send me a message. I really don’t want to know._

_Almost gone for a moment there, but I am back and still kicking. Whatever wrong you did was undone now. _

_To prove that this is really me, don’t mind me as I drop here this random photo I just took with my grandparents and my parents’ God Fathers.’ _

Dean and Tony shared a look, they were still holding their breaths, not daring to make a move.

Dean nodded slowly at him, then Tony shakily reached out to open the photo in the message.

It was a selfie of all things. Sydney’s brunet head right in the front, grinning cheekily, her green eyes lighting up in mirth. She looked as beautiful as the last time they saw her.

Behind her, there was six old men. Even with how old they were, they still managed to recognize them.

Because it was them.

Obviously, they will recognize themselves no matter how old they were.

Behind Sydney, Old Steve was smiling at the camera happily, while his arms were wrapped around a grinning Old Tony. Beside them sat Old Dean raising his eyebrow with a small smirk, an arm wrapped tightly around Old Castiel’s shoulders, who was ignoring the camera to smile warmly at Old Dean.

What shocked them the most were the last two men in the photo sitting beside them. They wouldn’t have recognized them at first, if it wasn’t for the wheelchair, their eyes and their familiar posture.

An Old Erik leaning forward to place his hands on an Old Charles’ shoulders and was smiling down at him fondly, as the old telepath was too busy grinning at the others to notice that the picture was taken.

_My parents’ God Fathers. _

Charles and Erik are going to be their kids’ God Fathers.

Somehow, that wasn’t surprising in the slightest. It was obvious from the start that those two idiots are going to be there till the very end. 

“God, Tony.” Dean whispered in awe, as they both kept staring at the photo for a long time.

It was the most beautiful thing they ever saw. A tangible picture of their future.

“There’s more to the message, still.” Tony murmured as he noticed that there was more writing under the picture.

They continued to read.

_‘The future is a fragile thing. One mistake can cost a lot. My journey through time made me hyper aware of any changes that happen in the Timeline. Make a mistake, and I will jump into my ship and come kick your asses until you fix it._

_Don’t get yourselves killed. I don’t want to miss my own wedding._

_S.’_

They kept staring at the message and photo for what probably more than an hour. Both too afraid to even blink so it won’t go away.

They slowly turned towards each other, staring for a few seconds, then burst out in a joyful laughter at the same time.

They leaned against each other heavily from how hard they were laughing.

“Our future is back, Tin Can! We did it!” Dean laughed loudly and happily as he patted Tony’s back. “We are going to be a family.”

“We already are, Dean.” Tony grinned back at him with a raised eyebrow.

Dean looked at him, his laughter slowed down to a happy smile.

“Yeah, we are.” He murmured softly, his smile widening. “And apparently for a very long time.”

Tony returned his smile, as they both turned to look at the photo again.

“JARVIS?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Print this photo, please. Make six copies of it.”

“Already on it, sir.”

They chuckled as they exchanged another grin, before knocking their shoulders against each other playfully.

They faced death. Over and over again. Almost lost it all.

But they won.

And they got their future back.

The future they deserve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Done!
> 
> Everyone that stuck with this story, no matter how painful it got at times, I just wants to say thank you! thank you for the comments and kudos! You always manage to make my day!
> 
> I hope the ending was satisfying after all the pain I put you guys through! Tell me what you think! 
> 
> This is far from the end! I still have so many ideas for this series that will probably last a lifetime! 
> 
> Stay tuned for the next part! Promise it will be far more fluffy with way less pain than this one! 
> 
> See you guys soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! Please tell me what you think!


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